Fly Fly Away
by twifantasy
Summary: When Zeke suddenly turns into one of the Alturas eagles and imprints on Kat, his whole life changes. Suddenly, he is the second priority in his life. On a quest to prove his love for Kat, Zeke learns a few things about himself as well. Sequel to Leah's Happily Ever After, Bet Me, That Girl, How To Deal, Patches of Blue, As It Goes, and To Be.
1. Chapter 1

Fly Fly Away

**CHAPTER ONE**

I filled up my water bottle on the way out of school, and did my best not to think about how much this walk home was going to suck. It was the last day of my senior year of high school, and it was hotter than it had been in over ten years in Alturas. I went to the Modoc public high school, but I was one of only two students here that lived on the actual Achomawi reservation. I felt absolutely terrible.

My name is Ezekiel Rock, and I was possibly the loneliest eighteen-year-old to ever live.

I didn't have a family. Not anymore. I had one once, when I was very young. But something had happened, and to this day, I still don't understand it.

You see, I was the youngest Rock child. I had five older sisters, and one older brother, Daniel. I hadn't seen Dan since I was five years old, but I remembered him. I thought he was a god. Fourteen years older than me, he was the coolest thing I had ever seen, and the closet thing I had ever had to a father.

My mother, to put it casually, was a stripper. I hadn't seen her in three days, but this wouldn't be the longest that she had gone missing. Once, when I was twelve, my sister Candice and I didn't see her for forty-six days. The tribe was no use. The cops never even came to check on us, because they had no right to on the reservation. Our neighbors were pot heads, and usually so high or drunk that we had to walk around them on our way to school. There was no way they were going to call DCFS for us. I remember those forty-six days because the only time I got fed was at school, and for a twelve-year-old boy, that was torture.

Considering the fact that none of us kids had the same father, and a hell-bound mother, we had all turned out pretty well. I mean, I didn't know about Dan, but my sisters all still called to make sure I was eating, staying sober, and going to school. The oldest two had left the year that Dan disappeared, and my family was ripped apart. They were only nine months apart, and had always acted more like twins. My mother really liked to get around. They were both absolutely gorgeous, and had gone off to LA to try and make it as models. By the grace of God alone they found work, and found other girls to move in with. I knew they had some pretty rough nights where they slept in shelters, and in bus stops, but they had fought their way to the top of food chain. The oldest was married, and the other was engaged. They had picked me and Candice up for the wedding, but my mom was conveniently missing at that point.

My third oldest sister was only a year behind the second oldest, and was smarter than anyone I had ever met. We think her father must have been a very rich, smart man. She had gotten a thirty-five on her ACT the first time she took it, and had gotten a full-ride to UCLA. She moved in with my two oldest sisters after graduating, but had gotten a job, a couple of roommates, and an apartment after a few months. She had a steady boyfriend, and would probably be getting married one of these days. She, as well as my oldest two sisters, sent back money for Candice and I whenever they could, but they had bills to pay just like the rest of the world.

My fourth oldest sister had fallen in love with one of the richest boys in the county. She had kept her trashy life hidden from him all throughout their first two years of high school, and then begged him not to call the authorities for fear that we would be put into homes. They had run off to Vegas to get married the night of graduation, and we heard from her a couple of times a month. Her rich husband had gone on to get his doctorate, and they were currently expecting a baby.

Three years ago, Candice had dug her way out of this hell hole just like my other sisters. She and I both cried the night that she strapped on her back pack and walked the twelve miles to a bus stop. She had received the chance to attend the Los Angeles Film School. She wasn't paying a dime to attend, but she needed a job to pay for her personal expenses still. She worked at a Starbucks, and even only earning minimum wage, she still sent money back for me. She had called me a few nights ago to tell me that she had been hired as an assistant director for her first film, and they were filming all over the world. I could hear the excitement in her voice, but also the worry that accompanied any phone calls from my sisters. They had all offered to let me come and stay with them at one point or another, but my mother glued me here. She would never give up her rights. By the time I turned eighteen and could run if I wanted, I had a steady job here, and six months left of school. It would be stupid to leave.

I wasn't handsome enough to make it as a model like my sisters. I wasn't smart enough to get a full ride to a university, or creative enough to go to a trade school. I most certainly wasn't in love with anyone rich.

What was love even? I knew I loved my sisters. I knew they loved me. I had seen the way my oldest sister had looked on her wedding day, and had seen the light in my fourth oldest sister's eyes as she ran off to Vegas. Yet, I still wasn't sure I could really understand it. I mean sure, I understood lust, and sexuality and all that business, but who's to say that love exists? I'd certainly never felt it.

There was one girl. She… enchanted me. Remember those pot-head neighbors I had? There were about fifteen people living in that house I think, and one of them was a girl my age. She had lived there her whole life, just like my sisters and I had lived just up the road from her our whole lives. Once, when I was about eight, and three of my sisters still lived with me, the oldest had found her passed out in the middle of the road on a hot summer day. My sister had carried her inside, and gotten her cooled down. She was severely dehydrated, and had probably needed the hospital, but my smart sister had nursed her back to health. She knew better than to call the police on her parents, whoever they were. If she called, who knew what those neighbors of ours would do? They could kill her, or us, for not keeping our heads down and staying out of trouble.

Her name was Kat. From the time I was about thirteen, I'd thought she was beautiful. Not like my sisters though; she had a different kind of beauty. She was short, but strong, and fast. I had seen her running from a drunk member of her household once, and even though he was drunk, she was like a cheetah. Barefoot and underfed, she was booking it as fast as she could away from him while I just watched in amazement. He gave up after a few hundred yards, but I stayed up to watch and make sure she got in and the lights turned off at her house that night. I'm sure she was planning her escape out of here just like I was.

It was reaching into the low one hundreds at three o'clock that day. The walk home was a good six miles, but I had been doing it for five years since my fourth oldest sister and her boyfriend (with a car) left. Candice had taught me to always fill up my water bottle on the hot days, and make sure I ate whatever they were serving for lunch in the cafeteria. Dying of dehydration was worse than choking down something nasty, she told me.

Kat walked home too, but we had always kept our distance. I knew if she ever fell, or passed out again, I would help her, and I thought she would do the same for me. That thought was only a little comforting. I had no idea how a five-foot-nothing ninety-pound girl was going to help out a six-foot-two me, but I knew she would try.

If there was any day in the last five years that I was going to drop dead before I made it home from school, that day was going to be today. I felt worse than I had ever felt in my life, and I figured I would probably end up being killed by some treatable bug my system couldn't fight off. I was way too poor to afford a trip to the doctor's office. My wages in the food carts I worked for barely kept me fed and the lights on at our house. My mother's wages, if she ever contributed, could easily afford our house and all of it's expenses. Too bad she was of absolutely no good to me.

Kat was ahead of me today, but some days I beat her out of the building and went first. It was kind of strange, but we had never walked together. Not when I was with Candice, not when we were younger, never. We were only a few yards away from each other, but we never spoke, never made eye contact, never acknowledged the other's existence. God, no one talked in this town. We had nothing to say to each other. At least, not people like Kat and I. We were the ones the teachers always worried about, but never did anything for. We were the ones who had a one in a million shot at getting out of this place with some dignity, and that was with luck. My sisters had done it. I would do it to.

And, if we were being honest, I would try to find a way to take Kat with me.

Never mind that we had only spoken a few times, and that was when we were assigned to in school. Never mind that neither of us was phenomenal at anything. Never mind that we were both living in a hell hole. Something about living in this place, and watching her survive as long as I had, made me want to never leave her. I felt like I couldn't leave her. If I was getting out, so was she.

My legs felt shaky, and I was exhausted as I saw her turn onto our road. She disappeared behind the trees at the entrance, and for a few moments I couldn't see her. I made myself drink some more water. I had to make it up the road to our house still.

As I came around the corner, I saw Kat lying on the ground, clearly passed out.

My adrenaline pushed me the few yards towards her, but after that, I have no idea how I got her back to my house.

I was shaking so bad I could barely walk, and I felt like I was going to pass out. I was hungry, even though I had eaten lunch. The heat was rolling off the ground in waves, and sweat dripped into my eyes. I shakily bent down and rolled her onto her back, cursing God for making this the day that she didn't make it home.

She was very red, and felt hot, even to me. She was either overheated, or sick. Considering the state of myself, I was going to assume both. I looked around for a moment, put her backpack on right over the top of mine, and then scooped her into my arms.

She was like a rag doll, but I could barely hold her. I took deep, steadying breaths to get me back to my front door, and for once was glad to see that my mother wasn't home. She was an awful woman, and would likely leave the girl out on the road to die. I fumbled with my key, but it fortunately didn't stick in the lock that day. I walked into the dark house, leaving the door open only for light. I couldn't afford a real AC system, but we had a window unit in the living room. One of my sisters had paid for overhead fans one year, and with all of those turned on, it wasn't that terrible indoors. Certainly better than outside.

The small AC was on full blast, and I set Kat down on our ratty old sofa next to it. She didn't stir, and I fought the urge to collapse on the ground right next to her. I thought for a moment, and remembering that heat escapes from feet, I took her sneakers off. I did the same with mine, and blearily made my way to the kitchen. I filled up my water bottle, and got another water bottle for her. We had four ancient ice packs in the freezer, but they would do. I put two under her arms, and made my way to the bathroom for some ibuprofen. Fortunately, we had a whole bottle full.

When I got back to the sofa, I knelt down, and felt my head swoon. I put the two pills on her tongue, and poured water down her throat to help her swallow them. She got them down, even unconscious, and I forced myself to swallow three. I fell onto the dirty carpet, put the ice packs under my arms the way I knew I was supposed to, and was asleep instantly.

In my dreams, I can remember that night perfectly. My mother, high without question, came stumbling into the house. It had been days since I had seen her, and maybe even weeks. I was little then, and time passed funnily. She walked into the kitchen, and absolutely blindsided me. I can still feel the way her soft hand hit my head so hard, and how I fell out of my chair, the linoleum reaching up to catch me.

My sisters were already asleep. I had woken up from another nightmare, and Dan had taken me into the kitchen for some water, trying to calm me down. He had looked so tired that night. Tears made the next part a little blurry, but I was positive of what I had seen. Right before my eyes, Dan had stepped in between me and my mother, blocking me from her. He was shaking so hard, he looked like he was vibrating. One second, Dan was there, the next, the largest, most terrifying bird I had ever seen. The bird stood right where my brother had, and clawed my mother's face as it flew out the window behind me.

My mother was too stunned, and high, to even scream. She looked at me lying on the floor, and walked out the door. I had laid on the kitchen floor all night, too afraid to move, convinced that Dan would come back. He never did. It was my oldest sister who found me the next morning. I told her what I saw, and even though she acted like she did, she didn't believe me. I heard her and my other sisters whispering about how Dan had found his way out, one way or the other. They expected to hear from him, but we never did.

I hoped more than they would that he would come back. He was my best friend in the whole world. I kept thinking that he wouldn't just leave me behind, he wouldn't just leave us, he couldn't, he couldn't, but he did.

Yet somehow, life went on. The hole that Daniel left was never filled, but I was distracted. Time faded the memory of him, and sometimes I thought that maybe I had just imagined the bird.

But that night, tossing in a fitful, feverish sleep, I _knew_ what I had seen.

I knew Kat was there, but it was like she was a world away. I felt lost in my own head, like I couldn't find my way to the surface of a deep pool. Everything hurt, and it felt like little bombs going off in my chest every time I coughed. I was angry. Angry at Dan for leaving me, angry at my sisters for being so lucky, and angry at my mom for getting us in this situation.

So this was how we died. Kat and Zeke, the kids who had toughed it out through so much, killed by some disease. How ridiculous.

In fact, it made me angry. How could this be the end? How could we have lived our whole lives, struggled our whole lives, just to die like this. I felt myself quivering, and I felt like I was being pulled to the surface of the pool I was drowning in. My eyes flew open, and in one moment, I knew what was about to happen.

Everything in me exploded into anger. All I could see was red. I was in the air suddenly, and some part of me wasn't surprised to realize that I was flying. I had wings. I was a bird, an eagle. Every piece of DNA in my body was screaming at me to fly, fly away, but I looked down.

Kat had her eyes open slightly, and her lips were kind of smiling. I think, to this day, that some part of her knew I was getting out. That smile meant that she knew I was leaving, and was happy for me. I was out the door and flying into the night in the next instant.

Suddenly, there were voices.

_What in the fuck…_ a male voice came through my head.

_Shit,_ thought a different male voice.

_Get Dan, _thought the first male voice.

_Already halfway there my brother, _said the other.

_Dan?_ I thought. The image of Dan as I had last seen him, so tired looking that night, passed through my mind.

_Yeah that's him, _thought the first male voice. _How do you know him?_

_ Are you reading my mind? _I thought. _Who are you?_

_ My name is Brian, _he thought. _That other voice you here is Corey. Everything is going to be okay. How do you know Dan?_

_ He's my brother…._I thought, wondering if this was all a dream and I would wake up on the floor at any minute.

_You aren't dreaming, _Brian thought. _Just be patient. We're coming for you._

_ If that's supposed to be reassuring, voice in my head, _I thought, _it isn't. _

_ Right, _thought Brian. _You probably think you're going crazy huh?_

_ Oh, we passed crazy long ago, _I thought.

_You bet we did, _Brian thought. _I had no idea that Dan had a sibling._

_ He has six, _I thought defensively. _I have five older sisters. He left all of us._ Even in my thoughts, I sounded angry at him.

_He didn't have a choice kid, _Brian thought.

_We all have choices, _I thought. I was in the woods now, they were only about two miles from my house. You could walk to them from the road, but it was dangerous. There were no houses after Kat's, and there was a lot of violence and drugs down here usually. In fact, I was pretty sure this was where Kat's parents got their drugs.

_I know exactly where you are,_ Brian thought.

_That's really creepy, _I thought. _How?_

_ Well I grew up a town over, only about ten miles away. Even over there we knew that place was dangerous. What are you doing there anyway?_

_I live here, _I thought. _Two miles up the road._

_ My God…_ Brian thought. _All this time, I never knew that Dan lived in such a bad area._

_ It seems to me there's a lot you don't know about my brother,_ I thought.

_He's on his way, _said a new, deeper sounding voice in my head._ And my name is Landon._

I didn't know how to respond to the formality. _How about you tell us your name, _thought Landon.

_Ezekiel Rock,_ I thought. _But anyone who talks to me calls me Zeke._

_ Zeke, _Brian thought. _Houston, we have a name._

_ How do you all know my brother?_ I thought.

_Because we're just like he is, _Landon thought. _He found us, took care of us when we first shifted._

I thought about Dan, and how he had worked two jobs when me and my youngest sisters weren't old enough. I remembered him walking me to pre-school before he walked himself to high school. I remembered him giving me a bath when I was _really_ little, and tucking me in to the small bed we shared. I remembered him checking my homework worksheets, even while doing his himself. I remember him making dinner so my sisters could get their homework done, and only eating the same amount as me, even though he so clearly needed more.

_Yeah,_ I thought. _He's pretty good at that._

_ Zeke._

Suddenly, an all too familiar voice was in my head. Thirteen years later, he still sounded so much the same.

_Dan?_ I thought, but I knew it was him.

_Of course,_ he said.

_You left us,_ I thought, unable to stop the angry words.

_Yes, _Dan said. _And I am so sorry, Zeke._

I thought of Kat, lying sick on our couch. I prayed that I would get back there before my mother did. I wouldn't leave her, not like Dan had left me. Not even if I was stuck like this for the rest of my life, I wasn't going to leave her here.

_You aren't stuck like this for the rest of your life,_ Dan thought at me.

_I'm not leaving her, _I thought.

_I'm gathering this, _Dan thought. _Hell, she looks like she's about to change…_

_ Wait, _I thought. _This is going to happen to her?_

_ From the way it looks, _Dan said. _Within the next few hours._

_ What happened to me?_ I asked. _What happened to you?_

_ Well, _Dan thought. _It's in our genes to be like this. Hundreds of years ago, our ancestors changed into birds as well. We think it was to protect the tribe._

_ My god, _I thought. _This is insane._

_ Yes,_ Dan, Landon, Corey, and Brian all thought at the same time.

_We're not the only ones like this,_ Dan thought. _In fact, we're a very small group compared to the other people like us. They turn into wolves though. They live on the Quileute Indian Reservation in La Push, Washington. They change because of the threat of vampires. We aren't sure why we change, other than genetics. There are a ton of them, two generations worth actually. The first generation doesn't shift anymore… But they've all got kids that do. It's a big, loving family. You'll like them._

_ Great,_ I thought. _You have a new family._

_ It's not like that,_ he defended. _We only met them about seven years ago. The first six years, Zeke, I was only human twice in that entire span. _

_ Why didn't you come back for me?_

_ We did come back, once, _Dan said. _I saw you, and Candice. What did you want me to say? Oh Hi Zeke, I know I haven't see you in ten years, and I exploded into a bird in front of you and all, but don't worry, I just came by to say hi._

_ You could have said something, anything, _I countered. _The girls thought you had run. They thought you had gotten out. We expected to hear from you. We waited for weeks. They think you're dead. They're going to think I'm dead._

_ They don't have to, _Dan said. _But you do have to come with me._

_ I'm not leaving Kat, _I insisted.

_Right, _Dan thought. _She'll have to come with us too, once she shifts._

I was getting out of here. We were getting out of here.

_That's right, _Dan said. _And I have never been happier about something._

I didn't even know what to say. I was getting out of here, and going with Dan. This day had sure taken a drastic turn.

_Where do you live?_ I asked.

_In a big house,_ he thought. The others were being quiet, but I could tell they were still here. Wherever here was. _We've had a ton of extra room since the girls moved out, so you can have your own room and everything._

_The girls…_ I thought.

_They stopped changing once the new generation started. They aren't needed anymore. Plus their husbands stopped, and they all have kids and stuff._

_ Wait… How many of you are there?_

_ Ten, _Dan thought. _But with the girls, and Michael, there were twenty of us._

_ Who is Michael?_

_ He imprinted on Lyssie, and she imprinted on him. He's also your cousin, but you probably don't remember him. He's my father's brother's son._

I had forgotten that Dan ever even met his father, or his father's family. I decided to tackle that fact later. _What's imprint mean?_

Dan mentally laughed. _I've got a lot to tell you, and a long flight until we reach you. _

_ Well, I'm all ears, or thoughts… or whatever._

Dan mentally laughed again. _I've missed you, buddy._

For a long while, Dan just told me things. He told me about all of the wolves, and how much had changed in La Push since they first came. He told me about vampires, which freaked me out like no other, but I was very interested to meet the ones that lived in town. The Cullens, who had initially triggered the wolves to change, now lived in Canada. There were ten vampires who lived as Cullens. The Denali's had a total of six people now, someone named Tanya had married somebody named Andrew. The coven in town had a total of ten vampires.

There were also two half-vampire, half humans living in town. He told me how Nessie had come about, and how the same thing had happened with some vampires from Depoli, India. Those were the vampires that lived in town now. When the human girl had gotten pregnant with a vampire child, they had contacted the Cullens for help. The other half breed was named Zemati, and she had imprinted on a second generation wolf named Nick. Nick's mother was Leah, and his father, someone who was also previously a wolf, was named Joel. Leah and Joel had imprinted on each other just a few months after Nessie had been born. Nessie and Jacob had two children, Eila and Cade. Eila had been imprinted on by another wolf, named Bryce, and after changing at a very young age, Cade had imprinted on Marah, Nick and Zemati's daughter.

I did my best to keep up with him as he explained to me that every single wolf eventually imprinted, and had children. Now the children were imprinting on each other. It was a mess, but they were a family. He told me it was pretty overwhelming at first, but not once you got to know everyone.

_So,_ I thought. _Are all of you from around here?_

_The general vicinity,_ Dan answered. _We all have the same ancestor though. We are all related to the first eagle. _

_Huh_, I said. _This is making sense._

_Perfect timing too,_ Dan said. _Because we're only a mile away. Still no sign of Kat I see._

_No,_ I said.

Suddenly, I could hear them. I could hear their wings beating, I could hear their fast, bird heartbeats. A group of birds were suddenly in front of me, landing on the branches around me. I could pick out Dan. He had a stripe across his wings, and the others were following him. His feathers were as dark as mine, pitch black actually.

_You feel like being human again little brother?_

_ Yes,_ I said. _But I'm not so little anymore._

_ Just try to relax…._Dan thought. _Try not to feel angry. Calm down…_


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Just as quickly as I burst into an eagle, I faded back into myself. Suddenly I had skin, I could feel it touching the branch beneath me.

I opened my eyes, and there were humans all around me. Some were pulling on shorts, others were already dressed. I realized I was naked, but knew there was nothing I could do about it. At least there weren't any girls here. Yet.

I thought back to Kat, and my heart went out to her. She had to be feeling pretty terrible right now. I wondered what it would be that made her angry…

"Wow," Dan said. "You really grew…"

I looked at him, and realized he was the exact same guy that I saw in all of my memories. He had told me about how we could potentially live forever, but we didn't have to. He hadn't changed at all.

"You didn't," I said.

"God…" Dan said. "You look like…" he reached for the words. "A man."

I gave him an eyebrow raise. "It's been thirteen years. I'm eighteen years old. You couldn't have been expecting a five-year-old."

"Actually I was," he said. "Every time I think about you, you're still about up to my waist, fifty pounds, and practicing the alphabet."

"Well," I said. "I finally learned that alphabet."

Dan's eyes were searching me. "How are the girls?"

I gave him an eyebrow raise. "Oh they climbed out of this hell hole, kicking and screaming."

"Yeah?" he said.

"Yes," I told him. "And you have two brother-in-laws. Plus one soon –to-be brother-in-law, and soon-to-be niece or nephew. Candice is off making movies. Jessa married a very rich guy she went to school with and is living in a mansion. Apparently, she's pregnant, but I didn't listen to the details the last time she called. Bethany is working in LA, living with her boyfriend. Grace is modeling and engaged. Tiffany has been married for four years and is also modeling."

"Wow," he said. "They really did kick and scream their way out of here."

"Yeah they did," I said. "And so did you."

Dan gave me another look. "Are you okay?"

I looked at him. "What in the hell does that mean?"

I realized that there was pity in his eyes, and it kind of made me angry. My hands started to shake, but I took a deep breath to steady myself. "It means that maybe I've been wondering about what happened to that five-year-old little kid I left lying on the kitchen floor with a mother who was so high she hit him."

I tried to keep the glare out of my eyes as I looked at him. "Well," I said. "He survived. And he grew up."

"Yeah," he said. "I can see that."

Suddenly, I heard the squawk of an eagle over head of us, and something inside me screamed that it was Kat. "There she is," Dan said. "I'll go get her…"

In one fluid motion, Dan had his shorts off and rolled into a pack that he tied to his foot. In the next instant, he was flying. I closed my eyes, and then looked at the ground.

"You have the same nose you know," said Justin. He tossed me something, and I was grateful to see that it was an extra pair of shorts.

I looked up at him as I slid them on. "Yeah," I said. "All seven of us do. Actually, all of my sisters could easily have the same father. They are all a spitting image of my mother. Their traits only vary slightly."

"Wait…" Alex said. "You guys don't have the same father?"

"My mother is a stripper," I said bluntly.

"Oh," said Alex, somewhat awkwardly.

I scoffed. "Yeah, a stripper who turned prostitute that couldn't afford birth control. I'm surprised I'm the youngest one," I said. "I know she still works, and they're paying her in drugs." I shook my head.

"That's horrible," said Adam. "I lived around here for almost two decades and never knew it was so bad back here. Or that people lived back here."

"Yeah, well," I said. "Welcome to the other side of the tracks." I shook my head again, memories flooding into my consciousness. "You want to know horrible? Imagine a seventeen year old girl holding a pistol aimed at the front door as a high, drunk gang banger tried to get in through the lock. Imagine two other girls behind her, and two more girls and a little boy locked in a bedroom closet, the oldest girl holding a knife. That was the new reality a week after Dan left."

The stunned silence that followed didn't surprise me. "You know, we thought we weren't wanted here," Robert said. "Most of us weren't. Dan couldn't have told you, even if he wanted to. He had to protect the secret, to protect you."

I sighed, thinking of my sisters. "We have to tell my sisters something."

"We'll think of something," Landon said.

"Maybe we'll even tell them the truth," Corey suggested. "But not likely."

"They won't ever stop looking for me if I disappear," I said.

"I'll bet they won't," Ricky said.

I heard footsteps, and suddenly, I jumped off the low branch I was sitting on. The jump would have killed me had I been human, but now, I could land it easily.

I could hear Dan talking in a calm voice that I knew so well, and the quiet, higher-pitched murmur of Kat's scared voice.

They burst through the last of the trees, and suddenly, my world stopped spinning.

I looked into her sharp, brown eyes, and felt the strings that tied me to this earth being severed. I felt my heart racing, and it felt like iron bars were being stretched from my chest to Kat's, interlocking our hearts.

I took one step towards her, and suddenly, she fell to the ground like a crumpled leaf.

Dan caught her before her head hit the ground. "Easy there," he said. He sounded remarkably calm.

"Kat," I said. "What happened to her?"

I could tell I sounded a little bit panicked. "Well," Dan said. "I think she probably imprinted on you. Did you imprint on her?"

"I definitely did something!" I said, feelings how tightly her soul was interlocked with mine.

"Sounds like imprinting to me," Ricky added.

"Is she going to be okay?" I asked, marveling at how beautiful she looked in her unconscious state.

"Perfectly so," Dan said. "This happened to all of the girls when they imprinted. It has to do with there being a surge of emotion or something. I don't know. I don't understand female hormones at all."

Kat twitched in Dan's arms, and her eyes fluttered. She made a groaning noise. "They're hell…" she mumbled as she opened her eyes.

The second her eyes were open, she looked at me. "Zeke…" she said.

"Kat," I said calmly.

She looked around the circle quickly, taking in her surroundings. "Are we getting out of here?" she asked me.

I nodded, and smiled a little. "Yeah," I said. "This is it. Our chance to run."

She nodded. "Why haven't we talked before?" she asked. "Because right now, I feel like if I stop looking at you, I'll die." She seemed shocked by all of the words coming out of her mouth.

I chuckled. "I know the feeling."

She tore her eyes away from me. "Okay," she said. "We're good, neither of us is dead."

"This is disgusting," Dan said.

"Yeah," Kat and I said at the same time.

"So you guys want to get out of here?" Dan asked us.

"Yes," we both said at the same time.

"Is there anything you can't replace that you need to grab?"

I thought back to the house, and realized that I had absolutely nothing there that I couldn't buy at a store. My mother had ruined anything of any sentimental value. "No," I said. "I have nothing." Kat concurred with a nod.

"Then let's get home," Dan said. "We'll have a few hours to explain some things on the way."

After having a brief lesson about how to intentionally phase, we were off flying. It was like second nature to stick with everyone else. I flew close to Kat, wanting only to be near her. Her thoughts were focused entirely on me as well. Dan told us a ton of information, and told us even more about the large extended family we would be meeting shortly. Kat's mind was incredible. She saw things that I never would have noticed, even with these enhanced senses. Her ability to pay attention to detail shocked me.

We arrived to a large white house around four am. The size of the place alone made my mouth, or beak rather, fall open. After taking a moment to get myself together, I phased back with the others, pulling on the loaned pair of shorts. Kat only had a sweatshirt that I assumed was Dan's. She was so small that it fell well past her hips.

"Welcome home," Dan said as he pushed in the password for the back door.

"This place is enormous…" I said, hearing my voice echo off the walls as I came in. I knew that this was the house the Cullens had occupied when they lived here. They had left just a few weeks after the eagles had shown up here, and the Cullen's had willingly gave up their house. It was a godsend for my brother and the other eagles, and still stood as a safe haven for any member of the family who needed it.

Dan laughed. "It's way too big for us without the girls here."

The others were walking into their house and going about their business, but Kat and I were still standing awestruck in the doorway. "This kitchen is as big as my house…" she said.

"This is your house now," said Dan. "You don't ever have to go back to Alturas if you don't want to."

Kat's arm brushed against the back of mine, and I felt lighting at her touch. She gasped, and jerked away. I knew she felt the connection too. I glanced at her, and her lips turned up slightly. I smiled a little too.

"I know I don't want to," I said.

Kat scoffed. "I couldn't have gotten out of there faster."

I caught a glance at the time on the microwave, and realized that it was the middle of the night. "I'll show you guys which rooms we aren't using…" he trailed off as we followed him around the corner and up a flight of stairs. "But I suppose you can share one if it makes you feel any more at home."

Kat and I glanced at each other again, and I confirmed my feelings in her eyes. "I think it will," I said. "Thank-you."

The doors to most of the bedrooms were closed, the other guys having gone to bed. Dan walked us to one at the end of the hall, last door on the left. "You can have this one," he said. "When the Cullen's lived here, I think it was Edward's room…. But anyway, you don't know him, so I guess you don't care. But, feel free to make yourself at home. We'll look into going shopping tomorrow for you guys, but I know we have extra clothes in that closet in case anyone needs them. You should be able to find something to sleep in." He pointed up the flight of stairs. "I'm on the third floor," he said. "And so are Adam and Ricky. If you need anything, feel free to wake up any one of us."

Kat walked into the bedroom without saying a word, but I paused in the doorway to look back at Dan. "Dan," I said, and he turned. "Thank you for coming back for me, even if it took you thirteen years."

Dan smiled. "Not a day has gone by that I haven't thought of you," he said. "I've just been careful to hide it from the others."

I smiled wryly. "I understand that you really didn't have much of a choice… but I'm really glad you're alright."

Dan's smile widened. "I'm glad to see who you've become. You seem like a good man."

I chuckled. "Right," I said. "A man."

"Goodnight Zeke," he said.

"Goodnight Dan."

I slid into the bedroom, and shut the door behind me. The entire back wall was windows, but the room was large. It was easily the size of the two bedrooms at my house combined. This was my house now, I reminded myself.

"Well," said Kat. "I suppose we should see what's in that closet…"

"Right," I said. We both walked over to the closet and looked inside. It was a large closet, and had every kind of necessary clothing anyone could ever need in there. There were lots of plain shirts, and athletic shorts, and some sweats. There were even a few dozen pairs of shoes. Underwear was folded neatly and separated into gender and size. This house had likely seen one too many people explode out of their skin.

"Alright then," said Kat. "I could manage with this stuff for the rest of my life I think…"

I laughed. "At least for a week."

She started looking through the girls clothing, and I looked at the boys. We were silent for a while, but then she spoke. "Zeke," she said. "Why didn't we ever talk before?"

I thought. "I don't know," I said. "I guess we just knew there was nothing we could say. We were both looking for a way out of there."

"I guess," she said. "But still, it seems weird to think that we'd never even talked much before, and now we're like, joined at the soul."

I chuckled. "It does seem strange. But you heard what Dan said, there's been weirder imprintings than between two people who've awkwardly never spoken before." I cringed, thinking of Quil imprinting on Claire, or Jacob imprinting on Nessie.

"That's a nice way to put it," she said. "Two people who've awkwardly never spoken before…"

I turned around to face her, and she turned at the same time. We were suddenly much closer, and we both realized it. "You know," I said, breaking the moment of silence. "I'd like to speak with you for the rest of my life…"

She smiled. "I was thinking the same thing… Actually, I've had a crush on you since you're sister saved me that day when we were younger. I just never had the nerve to talk to you."

I laughed. "Oh," I said. "I've had a crush on you since about that time too."

She took a step closer to me. "I'm glad we're in the same room," she said, grabbing my hands.

I took a step towards her so we were nearly touching. "I don't think I could stand to be away from you… not now, not when this all seems so surreal."

"It's real," she said. "I know it. We're out of there…"

We both moved at the same time, and it was like gravity. Even though I was more than a foot taller than her, our bodies spoke the same language. I placed my lips gently on hers, not even relishing in the fact that this was my first kiss. All I knew was her, and that she was kissing me back. She pushed her lips even harder on mine, and I reacted naturally. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever experienced… It felt so freeing. My hands travelled down her body to her waist, and without even pausing, I picked her up. She reacted exactly how I wanted her to, swinging her legs around my hips and holding on. Our lips stayed together, and she tangled her hands in my hair.

After what felt like only seconds, she broke away. We stared at each other for a moment, and then smiled. "Well," she said. "That was a hell of a first kiss." Her legs were still around me, and I held her to me tightly.

"You're gorgeous you know," I said.

"Oh please," she said. "I haven't showered, my hair is a wreck, and I probably smell like the woods."

"Oh," I said. "But that's what makes you beautiful my dear." There was something about her that made me brave. With her, I wasn't the shy kid from the bad part of town. I was purely, simply, me.

She planted her lips on mine again, only giving me a peck. "Let's get some clean clothes on," she said. "I'm exhausted."

We both found some clothes we could sleep in, and I changed in the closet while she changed in the room. When I came out, she was just pulling her shirt down.

"You can have the bed," I said. "I'll sleep on the floor."

"Alright," she said. She bit her lip for a moment. "Or we could share the bed. It's plenty big enough."

I shrugged. "That's fine by me."

We each went to a side of the bed, and climbed in. I felt the cotton on my legs and bare chest, and literally felt like the mattress was soft enough to make me sink into it. "Oh my god," I said. "This is the nicest bed I've ever slept in…"

She coughed. "This is the only bed I've ever slept in," she said quietly. "I normally sleep on the floor. Lately I've been sleeping outside on the back porch. They don't look for me there when they're drunk."

I rolled over to face her. "Kat," I said, and I could hear the empathy in my voice. "I'm so sorry."

"It's just life," she said.

"No," I said. "You could have slept on our couch any time…"

"Until when?" she said. "Your mom came home? You haven't had it very easy either…"

"I had a bed," I said. "Or at least a mattress with a blanket."

She was quiet for a while. "I suppose it doesn't matter now…"

"I suppose not," I said. I could see her big, round brown eyes staring out at me through the darkness.

"You know," she said, after a minute of us staring at each other. "I don't know what love is, but I think I might love you."

I nodded my head. "I'm pretty sure, if love exists, this is how it feels."

She smiled. "We've only been talking for the past four hours and now we love each other."

I smiled back. "They said imprinting was crazy…" We both laughed quietly. "Close your eyes, Kat," I said. "I promise I'll be here when you wake up."

She nodded. "Goodnight Zeke."

"Goodnight Kat."

I watched her until her breaths were slow and even, but I dozed off shortly after that. She was there in my dreams though. We were holding each other, and I was happy. Somehow in the hours between falling asleep and waking up, we gravitated toward each other. I woke up when her breathing quickened, because she was pressed against me. The sun was just rising.

I looked down at her, and realized something was wrong when I saw the look on her face. She had tears on her cheeks, and immediately I felt sad. "Kat," I said. "Baby what's wrong?"

She sniffed. "Well," she said. "Maybe something and maybe nothing." I waited for her to continue. "You see," she said, and I could see her walls coming down. "The people I lived with… weren't good to me. One of them… I don't know his name…" she sniffed, and started to cry harder.

I held her tighter, and rocked her gently. "Sh," I said. "It's okay. Whatever it is, it's okay. I can make it okay."

"He, um…" she stuttered. She took a cleansing breath. "He raped me," she said clearly. I didn't even know how to begin to react. "And…" she continued. "I haven't had my period in eight weeks. I miss a lot of times, but never by this much…" she let out a little sob. "I'm worried I'm pregnant."

My head was spinning, and I fought to control the anger towards the man who had done this to her. How dare he? I felt my hands start to shake, and fought hard to stay human. I got myself together, and realized she was rubbing my back. Shouldn't I be the one comforting her? I ran my hand through her hair, and used the other hand to wipe the tears off her cheeks. "Okay," I said. "Well…" I didn't have any idea what the hell I was doing. "Shouldn't you take a test or something?"

She nodded. "I'm dead broke," she said. "And they cost a little."

"We'll get you one," I said. I held her close, burying her head in my chest. I thought for a while before speaking. "Kat," I said. "No matter what, I'm going to be here for you. If you're not pregnant, then great. If you are, I'll do whatever you need me to do…" I shook my head. "Hell," I said. "I'll marry you, I'll be that baby's father, I'll be your best friend. Whatever you need, I'll be it."

She cried harder. "I'm really scared," she said. And in her voice, the fear was plain. I felt her small little body shaking with tears, and my heart broke for her. "And you shouldn't have to change your life for me. This is my problem."

"Hey," I said. "Your problems, are my problems now."

She cried harder. "We barely know each other!"

I sighed. "I know," I said. I paused, letting her calm down. "But I feel like I've known you my whole life."

She gave half a laugh. "I know what you mean."

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. I could hear the slow, deep breaths of the other guys. I was wide awake now, but I knew that at five am, after being out most of the night, I should be exhausted. This eagle-gene was weird…

"I suppose I should take a test before anything else," Kat said after her tears subsided.

"Yeah," I said. "Maybe you aren't even pregnant." For her sake, I prayed that was true. No one should have to carry and mother a baby that wasn't made out of love. Especially one that was made against her will. I hated that man with every ounce of my being.

She sniffed. "I am," she whispered. I gave her a questioning look. "I just know it. I don't know how I know it, I just do."

I nodded. "I believe you," I said. "And we're going to figure this out." I shrugged my shoulders, stretching out the tendons. My head was spinning. How could so much be changing so quickly? "In an hour or so, I can get Dan. He'll know how to go about this, or someone who will."

"Zeke," she said. "Thank you."

I rubbed her hair. "I want to help you."

She smiled. "How did we get here?"

"We exploded into eagles, and this happened," I said.

She laughed. "Good enough for me."

We both dozed, wrapped in each other's arms, for about seventy-five minutes. At that point, I heard Justin and Ricky going downstairs or into bathrooms, and I figured it was a safe bet to wake up Dan. Fortunately, I met no one in the hallway or while walking up the stairs. My head was spinning so much I didn't think I'd be able to have a conversation. I came to Dan's door and knocked twice. I heard him jump out of bed light as a cat and come to the door.

"Zeke," he said. "Is everything okay?"

I shrugged, giving him a wry smile. "Good question," I said. "I need to talk to you."

He pulled me into his room and shut the door. I saw that it was modestly small, and felt bad for having such a large room. He directed me to a chair he had opposite his bed. "What's up?" he asked, sitting on the foot of his bed.

I told him everything Kat had told me the night before. I thought he would freak out, but he stayed completely calm. He looked a little angry about the rape, but remained in check.

"Well," he said when I finished. "We definitely need her to take a test. After that, I suppose all we can do is support her, and be her family. I'm going to call one of the girls. They'll know which test to buy and what not. Plus, someone needs to take her shopping and I'm not volunteering."

I smiled. "I know what you mean."

"Come on," he said. "I want to talk to her. Let her know what we're going to do."

We walked back downstairs together. Kat had left the door open, and had made the bed. She was finger combing her hair when we came in.

"Hey there," Dan said.

She turned to look at us. "Hi," she said quietly. Her face was set with a determined look.

"Zeke told me about your dilemma. I'm going to call one of the girls and they'll take you to get a test and some clothes and stuff okay?"

"Yes," she said. "Thank you." She shook her head. "I'm really sorry."

Dan frowned. "For what?"

"Causing all this trouble. I should be like kissing the ground you walk on and I'm just making your life more difficult." My heart broke for her a second time that morning.

"No no no," said Dan. "This is your family. You are going to help us protect this town. We should be thanking you." He shook his head. "And you can't help what happened to you. I feel like I'm not helping you enough."

She smiled, and I thought she was about to cry. "Thank you," she said. "For everything."

"Seriously," he said. "It's nothing." He looked at her. "When was the last time you ate?"

She thought for a while. "Yesterday at school."

"Right," he said. "You need more food. You look like you could break in half. If you don't mind me asking, how much do you weigh?"

"About ninety pounds," she said.

"Right," said Dan again. "Yeah no. You need to be eating a lot more. Come on downstairs and get something."

She smiled. "If you have enough."

"We have too much. Come on. This is your house, it's your food."


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

Dan brought us to the kitchen and pointed to the cabinets with food in them. He stepped out to go call one of the girls then, and we were left alone in the kitchen with Corey and Scott.

"Good morning," said Scott. He was eating a massive bowl of cereal. "Did you sleep well?"

Kat chuckled. "Kind of," she said. "It was the best bed I've ever slept in."

"It was the only bed you've ever slept in," I commented.

"Wow…" said Scott, trailing off.

"So," Robert said awkwardly as he and Alex walked into the kitchen. "We heard you might be pregnant."

Scott choked on the cereal he was swallowing.

"Wow," said Kat. "Word travels fast in this house."

"Basically," said Robert.

"What do you mean 'might be'?" asked Corey.

"I mean that I'm not entirely sure," said Kat, remaining completely calm. "Though I'm leaning toward pregnant, vs. not pregnant."

"How do you not know?" asked Justin innocently. He seemed to be only a few years older than me. I didn't blame him for the question, but I also didn't want him to make Kat feel awkward.

"Because I haven't taken a test yet," said Kat honestly. She seemed to realize that he meant nothing by the question, he really just didn't know.

"Can't you tell?" asked Justin.

"Well," said Kat. "There have been some signs. But I'm really not positive."

"Huh," said Justin. "Well let us know when you find out."

Kat scoffed. "Oh you'll know," she said. "I'll probably be having an emotional meltdown."

"That sounds fun," said Ricky as he walked into the kitchen. "May I join you?"

"Oh yes," said Kat. "All emotional meltdowns are open invitation. It is a place where you can cry about anything you want and not be judged."

Ricky laughed. "I'm in. Let me know when you schedule it."

"No problem," said Kat. She was fitting right in.

I smiled at her. "Well you're not shy at all, are you?" I asked.

"No," she said. "I just never had anything to say before."

I nodded. "I know what you mean. I'm really not that shy either. I just never had anything to say to anyone."

"Exactly," she said. "I obviously couldn't talk to my family about anything important. Teachers are oblivious, and other kids ask too many questions. So I just kept to myself."

"Kept your head down and minded your own business," I said. "That's how you survive."

"Exactly," said Kat. "And look at us. We never even spoke to each other, and now we can't shut up."

"That's kind of what imprinting does to you," said Adam, joining us in the kitchen. "Lyssie never said more than a few words to me, and after she and Michael imprinted on each other, they talked nonstop."

"I feel like I'm never going to run out of things to say to you," I told Kat.

"I know the feeling," she said.

"You're disgusting," said Landon, sitting down at the table.

"Thank you for that," I said. "It was very welcoming, and nonjudgmental."

"Anytime," said Landon.

That was another weird thing: I felt like I had known these guys for several years, not just twenty-four hours. We were already joking like I used to with my sisters. It was the happiest I had felt since the moment I first imprinted on Kat.

At this point, Kat and I were both eating dry cereal. It was delicious. Everyone else had made their way downstairs for breakfast, and we were all crowded into the kitchen. It seemed very normal to them, so I assumed they all normally ate at about this time.

I heard the front door open and close, and Dan walked into the kitchen next. "Oh good," he said. "You guys are eating. You look like holocaust survivors."

"Thank you," Kat said. "That makes me feel really pretty."

"I say it because I care," said Dan. "Anyhow, Ashley is coming over, and she's bringing Abbey. Abbey is married to Seth Clearwater if you remember us telling you about him. She's an OB/Gyn," said Dan.

"Wow, that's convenient," said Kat.

Dan smiled and laughed. "It really is."

I turned to her. "What's that?"

"What's what?"

"An OB/Gyn."

"Oh," said Kat. She laughed. "It's a vagina doctor."

Someone else choked on their cereal. I bit my lower lip. "Hey," said Ricky. "If you're living here, there are no barriers to what you can say. Way to just lay it all out there kid."

Kat shrugged. "I lost my filter somewhere between waking up and walking downstairs. I don't know what happened. It's just gone."

I laughed. "Well I like it."

"I appreciate you being ballsy," said Brian. "It's refreshing."

"It's like having the girls back here," said Justin. "I'm still not recovered from living with them for two years."

Everyone laughed at that. "You're going to be okay," I told him. "I was raised by six sisters. It gets easier."

"False," said Dan. "It got harder. They all became crazy when they turned thirteen."

"That's because they had half a cup of blood coming out of them," said Kat.

"You're two for two girl," said Adam.

"I know," said Kat. "It's getting worse."

"This is nothing to what I heard," I said. "They talked about it like I wasn't even there. I asked some extremely awkward questions when I was seven and eight. They answered me honestly, not filtered at all."

"Wow," said Dan. "I should have kidnapped you."

"It was great," I said. "I was like the king of tampon buying."

"Oh my," said Dan. "Well, you seem to have turned out alright."

"Oh sure," I said.

Just then, I heard car tires on the driveway, and realized that it must be Ashley and Abbey. I prepared myself to meet another small fraction of this large family.

They let themselves in the front door, and walked right into the kitchen. "Morning everyone," said Ashley. Even though she had stopped shifting when the second generation had started, I could still sense the eagle-gene in her. It was spectacular. "I'm Ashley," she said, holding her hand out to me. "You must be Zeke?"

"Yes," I said. "It's very nice to meet you."

"Much obliged," she said. She turned to Kat who was standing next to me. "Hello there," she said. "Are you Kat?"

"I am," she said.

Ashley shook her hand, and then pulled her into a hug. "How are you holding up?" she asked.

"Alright," said Kat. "It's a lot to take in."

"Oh, I know it," said Ashley. She looked Kat up and down. "Girl, we need to get you fed more often."

Kat smiled. "So I've been told."

Abbey was standing in the doorway. "Hi," she said to me. "I'm Abbey." We went through the formalities, and she did the same with Kat.

"Are you ready to head out?" Ashley asked Kat.

"Sure…" said Kat.

Ashley took her hand, and began to lead her out of the kitchen.

"Hey," I said, realizing I was going to be separated from Kat. "Be careful okay?"

"Of course," said Kat. "Same goes to you."

"Right," I said.

"Here," Dan said, reaching into a cookie jar and pulling out a wad of bills. "Take this."

Kat looked at the money guiltily. "Thank you," she said. "Seriously."

"Seriously," said Dan. "You're welcome."

Kat patted my arm as she walked past, and I smiled at her. Soon enough, they were pulling out of the driveway, and I felt like my soul was literally going with her. It was a strange feeling, and pretty disorienting.

"So Zeke," said Dan. "How are you handling all of this?"

I shrugged. "Well," I said. "You guys are great. The house is nice, and I think I could easily get used to this being an eagle thing. You guys really are supportive."

"Thanks," said Robert. "We try."

"And how about the other things?" asked Dan. He gave me a wise look, and I realized that though he may still look the same as he used to, these thirteen years had aged him as well.

I shrugged again, not sure how to begin. "I'm really worried about her, honestly," I said. "This is a lot to take in for one person."

"She's a survivor," said Dan. "You both are."

"I know," I said. "But jeez, she found out about an entirely different world, exploded into a bird, imprinted on me, was imprinted on by me, left home, told me she was raped by her father, and is out buying a pregnancy test with some girls she just met. All of this in like, fifteen hours. She's bound to be close to her breaking point."

"I think you'll find that women have a very strong ability to be resilient," said Dan. "Especially when they are pregnant. I saw it in all of the girls. For how jacked up their hormones are, and how exhausted they look all the time, they have an amazing ability to keep trucking along. Lyssie told me once that it doesn't matter how sick you feel, or how exhausted you are, or how much everything hurts, you just keep going. You live your life, and try to keep yourself healthy for the baby."

I shook my head. "I don't know the first thing about pregnancy," I said. "I mean," I stuttered. "How am I even supposed to help her?" I put my hands on my face. "And that's all I want. I want to be what she needs me to be, whatever that is."

Dan nodded. "I think it'll all come with time," he said. "You'll learn as you go. Everything will work out."

I threw my hands down. "And God," I said. "I'm so angry at the man who did this to her. What right did he have?"

The kitchen was silent other than the clanking of silverware and chewing. "He didn't have the right," said Dan. "None at all."

I felt my hands shaking again, and focused on staying calm. "I just," I started. "I'm eighteen years old. She's eighteen years old. We don't know anything! How is she supposed to have a baby? She's never even been to a doctor. How am I supposed to help her have a baby that's not even mine?"

Dan nodded. "It's a shitty situation," he said. "But I think you'll find that being a father has absolutely nothing to do with blood and everything to do with who takes care of you and who loves you."

"Jesus," I said. "Being a father. What does that even mean? I don't have a father. I never had a father. Well, except for-"

"Me," said Dan. "I know buddy. I was your dad, and I was going to be your dad for your whole life. I decided that the day you were born, and I was fourteen. The only father you ever had left you. Sorry about that."

"It's not your fault," I said. I shook my head, trying to clear it. "I'm not ready for this," I said.

"You don't have to be just yet," said Dan. "Just think of it this way: You love her, don't you?"

I laughed. "We aren't really sure what that means either," I said. "But yes, I think I do. In fact, if love exists, she must be what it feels like."

"That sounds about right," said Dan. "And you'll be whatever she needs you to be, right?"

"Definitely," I said. I knew the answer to that question deep in my soul. I was designed to be who she needed. Every twisting strand of DNA in my body was screaming that.

"Then I think if she needs you to be a father, a husband, a friend, whatever," said Dan. "It'll come as easily to you as loving her does."

I pondered that for a while. "I suppose that does make sense."

"I thought we didn't know if she was pregnant or not," said Justin.

"She is," Dan and I said at the same time. "I just know," I added.

"I'm telling you, being pregnant makes them more resilient," said Dan. "It may be the best thing that could have happened for her right now."

It was almost six o'clock at night when I heard the tires on the driveway again. The guys had worked on intentional phasing with me, and I had met my first wolves. Jacob, Bryce, Cade and Nick were out running patrol together. They had a strange smell on them, and they told me it was the smell of the vampire gene. They were all imprinted on either a half or quarter vampire, and Cade himself was a quarter vampire. They told me that they thought his sister hadn't changed because she didn't receive the wolf gene. Some traits, especially in vampires, were only passed down to one gender. For example, Nessie wasn't venomous, but male half-vampires were. Quarter vampires with a wolf gene who were boys apparently shifted, and girls didn't. I was a little confused, but getting less and less so every moment. I could see how it wouldn't be very confusing if you had lived through all of these changes.

When Kat got home, Ashley and Abbey came in with her. "I'm going to do it," Kat told me. "I will pee on the stick, and it will give me the answers to my future."

I laughed a little nervously. "Well," I said. "I'll be waiting."

"We're here for emotional support," said Abbey.

"Good plan," I said.

It only took Kat about a minute to perform the test, but we had to wait twenty minutes for the results. The time dragged by, even for me. Sure enough, when Kat looked at the test twenty minutes later, it was quite clearly positive.

"I'm pregnant," she said. Her voice was flat, even, and calm. "Oh my gosh."

She turned to look at me, and I reminded myself to stay calm. My whole life changed in that moment. Everything would work out with time. I would be whatever she needed. I opened my arms, and she fell into them. She blew all of her air out quickly. "Okay," she said. "I'm remaining calm."

"Yes," I said, rocking her. "You are."

She pulled away from me after a moment, and turned to look at Abbey. "Now what?" she asked. The whole house had been waiting to hear the answer, and were all still sitting around. They were being appropriately quiet.

"Well," said Abbey gently. "We keep an ultrasound machine here, and I need to get one of those on you to see how far along you are. I'm suspecting approximately two weeks, based on what you've told me. We can do that in a little while though." She looked Kat up and down. "Honestly Kat, we need to get you to gain weight. You need a lot of fatty, high carb, high protein foods. I'm not going to lie, you are really small to be having a baby. If you didn't have the eagle-gene, I would classify this as a high risk pregnancy. First because you are pretty young, and second because you aren't very big."

"I'm going to eat so much," said Kat.

"That's the spirit," said Ashley.

"Whatever I need to do," said Kat. "I'll do it."

She looked terrified, yet completely determined. She squeezed my hand, and Ashley came and took the other. "We know you will," said Ashley. "We've both been pregnant before. You look at that little stick, and your whole life changes. It doesn't matter how scared you are, or how underprepared you feel, you're willing to do whatever you have to for that baby. You love it already, don't you? It's something inside of you, that you created, no matter how it happened. You love it, because it's part of you."

Kat nodded, and I saw the tears on her cheeks. I brushed them away with my free hand. "That's spot on for how I'm feeling," said Kat. "No matter how this baby was created, it's mine, and I'm going to do whatever I need to do to make it safe and happy."

"Of course you will," said Abbey gently. "We all would."

"Like I said," said Ashley. "We've been there, sweetie. It's terrifying, but you come out a hell of a lot stronger, let me tell you." She smiled. "My baby just finished first grade, and I still remember looking at that stick seven years ago, and thinking, wow, how am I going to survive the next nine months? Well, I've survived seven years since then, and I've never been happier."

"My babies exploded into wolves about six months ago," said Abbey. "They finished seventh grade yesterday. They just turned thirteen, and I still remember being that nineteen-year-old brand-new-bride pregnant with twins." She smiled. "I met Seth when I was thirteen, and I was happy when they imprinted on their cousins. They'll always be happy that way." She chuckled. "And then I have Aubrey." She ran a hand through her hair, and I saw just one gray strand. "She is the quietest little girl ever, but boy is she fast. She runs around everywhere. She also just finished first grade."

I was watching Kat closely. I prayed one day she would be the one comforting a newly impregnated young woman. I prayed that one day I would look back on this moment and smile. But right now, all I felt was fear, and I could see it on Kat's face that she only felt that as well. "You're kids sound fantastic…" said Kat. She shook her head. "I can't even imagine being in seventh grade and having to deal with shifting."

"Cade was in sixth," said Abbey. "But you know what, it's all they've ever known. They are the most responsible kids on the planet because of it, all of them are. It's their normal, and kids are resilient."

"So are pregnant women," said Ashley. "You are officially the toughest person in this room."

"I was there when your kids were born," said Justin, looking at Abbey.

Abbey laughed. "Everyone was there." She told us how she had given birth while on a family trip, along with Kaylie and Lauren. It had been quite the spectacle, she said. "You're shoelace tied off Evan's cord," Abbey reminded him.

"I know this," said Justin. "I remind Evan that he owes me his life every chance I get."

Abbey chuckled. "I'm sure he enjoys it." She smiled. "He's just like Seth you know."

"Oh I can tell," said Dan. "Completely unfocused."

"Exactly," said Abbey. She turned to Kat. "Are you ready to get that ultra sound? It'll give us a time frame."

Kat nodded, looking brave. "Yes," she said. She looked up at me. "Will you come with me?" she asked.

"Of course," I told her. "Whatever you want, you've got it."

Abbey led the way upstairs, and Ashley stayed downstairs to talk with her eagle brothers some more.

The room she led us to was on the third floor, right next to Dan's room. It looked like a small doctor's office, with two examination tables, cabinets, counters, containers of medicines and medical supplies. "You see," said Abbey. "None of the wolves or eagles can really go to a doctor, so if something happens to them, we come here. It used to be Carlisle Cullen's office, but he left what he could when they moved. He told us we would need it more than he would, and by gosh, we sure have."

"Huh," said Kat.

"Alright," Abbey said, flipping on lights and machines and such. "You can go ahead and lay down. This is a completely painless procedure. I just want to see what the baby's development looks like and where he or she is positioned."

Kat gave me a look, and I gave her a reassuring smiled. She squeezed my hand and hopped up onto the exam table. It was in a seated position, and Abbey reclined it slowly for her. She grabbed a tube of something, and told us it was ultrasound gel.

She peeled back Kat's t-shirt, and Kat squeezed my hand, hard. She must be really nervous. I know I was. I could see all of Kat's ribs, and hips, and pelvis. She was entirely too thin. We were about to see this little baby, this thing inside of Kat, the girl I loved.

Abbey squirted the gel onto Kat's stomach, and pushed a plastic stick-like thing onto Kat's belly. She rolled the thing around in the gel while looking at a screen. All I could see were fuzzy gray lines, but Abbey seemed to know what she was doing.

"Ah," she said, stopping suddenly. "There he is," she said. She pointed to a small dot on the screen. I looked closely, amazed at how tiny it was.

"Oh…" said Kat. "He's so small…"

"Yes," said Abbey. "But larger than I was thinking. You are actually about a month pregnant I think. He's developed about that much at least."

"Huh," said Kat. "So I've been pregnant for a month and I didn't even know it."

"Do your boobs hurt?" asked Abbey.

"Since you mentioned it, yes," said Kat. "I thought it was PMS."

"A common mistake," said Abbey. "But also an early sign of pregnancy."

"Wow," said Kat. "How interesting…"

Abbey put the stick thing away, and wiped off the extra gel with a towel. "I'll bring a book for you to read soon. It'll help with a lot, and answer a lot of questions. Do you have any questions?"

"What do I do?" asked Kat immediately.

"You go about your normal life," Abbey said. "Well, you're new normal life. You don't drink obviously, and you eat a lot more."

"Got it," said Kat. She yawned. "I'm exhausted."

"Another sign of pregnancy," Abbey said.

"Lovely," said Kat. She smiled. "You hanging in there?" she asked me.

"Sure," I said. "Just trucking along." I laughed, and Kat joined me.

We all made our way back downstairs, and Ashley had already put the bags of things they had bought for Kat, and apparently me, today in our room. I thanked them for shopping for me, and they said it was their pleasure. After they left, Kat and I were sitting on the couch, talking to everyone, telling everyone what Abbey had said. Dan seemed genuinely happy for me. The others just looked worried, and I completely understood why. I was quite worried myself.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Around eight o'clock, Kat had begun to doze on my shoulder, and I carried her up to bed. She had had a very eventful day, and needed all the sleep she could get. I laid her down gently on the side of the bed she slept on last night, and brushed her hair off of her neck. I pulled the sheet up over her, though I knew there was no chance of her getting cold. I came back downstairs after making sure her breathing was deep and even.

"Is she asleep?" Dan asked me.

"Out cold," I answered.

Just then, I heard vibrating, and Dan pulled out his cell phone. "Hello?" he answered. I heard someone talking, and Dan put the phone on speaker. "Okay," said Dan. "Now everyone is listening."

"Okay," said a voice I recognized as Abbey. "First of all, you guys need to be really nice to Kat."

"Why?" said several voices.

"Because she was raped and is pregnant, Jesus," replied Abbey. There was silence after that. "I mean seriously, that's a lot to deal with. Second of all, as her family, you guys need to make sure she is eating three meals a day, and snacks, especially at night. I'm not trying to freak her out, but she is seriously underweight. Like, she and the baby are at some seriously high risks if she doesn't start to gain some weight. I'm nervous."

"Well," I said. "I'm officially completely worried beyond all reason."

"Sorry," said Abbey. "I forgot you would be freaked out too."

"Nah," I said. "It's better to know. Now I can shove processed sugar down her throat and have a reasonable excuse."

"Just make sure she's eating meals and snacks with a lot of protein, and honestly she should be fine. I just wanted you guys to know the risks and stuff. I already talked a lot with her about it, but you guys are my enforcers."

I swallowed. "Is she going to die?" I asked Abbey quietly, even the thought made me terrified. It was like there was a gun to my head.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," said Abbey. "She's small, but strong. She's a survivor. I think she'll be okay."

"Whatever you say," I said.

"You hanging in there?" she asked me.

"Mostly," I said. "Just nervous and worried."

"It gets easier," she said. "I swear."

"I believe you," I told her. "It's just a lot to take in all in one day."

She scoffed. "Yeah," she said. "I bet it is."

Abbey said her goodbyes, and I could hear people in the background. I assumed it was her family.

"We'll figure this out Zeke," Dan said as I stood up to go upstairs.

"I know," I said. I went quietly into our room, hoping I wouldn't wake Kat up. She needed sleep, and lots of food. I turned on the light to the closet, and saw that Ashley had even put all of the clothes away. I pulled on a pair of sweatpants, and was grateful that they fit. I would never understand women's ability to guess at sizes so accurately. My sisters had done it for years.

I shut off the light to the closet and slid into bed. Kat was lying on her side, facing my side of the bed. She looked peaceful in her sleep, yet extremely tired. My poor baby. As I pulled the covers up around me, Kat stirred a little, and slid closer to me. I wrapped my arms around her as she got closer to me, and she pressed her face against my chest. She pushed one of her legs in between mine. We were as intertwined as we possibly could be. She sighed contently in her sleep. I felt her stomach pressed against mine, and I thought of how her baby was in there. A baby that I might be raising. I forced myself to fall asleep before I could think about that one very much. It wasn't difficult. I was tired too.

I didn't dream that night. I was woken up by the sunlight filtering in through the wall of windows, but I had gone to bed early enough that I didn't feel tired. Kat was still sleeping soundly in my arms, but she began to wake up when I slid out of bed. I needed to shower. I went into the bathroom and saw that someone had left me a note. It gave me directions to where soap was, and towels. It also gave me directions for where the extra razors and things were. I took a fast shower, not wanting to take up the hot water, and shaved my face at the sink. I was only in the bathroom for about ten minutes all together. I wrapped my towel around my waist and made it back to our bedroom. I was pretty sure Kat was awake, but she was silent and still. I found a pair of cargo shorts and a blue t-shirt, and got changed. I went back to the bed, and sat down on my side of it, looking at Kat.

She stared up at me, and smiled. She took a deep breath, and suddenly her eyes changed. They got really wide, and I heard her gag. She was up and running to the bathroom before I could even react. She got to the bathroom, and I walked in tentatively. I heard her retching, and I didn't know how to help her. I sat down next to her, and helped her hold her hair back. She flushed the toilet, and slowly sat up.

"Huh," she said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "That was interesting."

"What happened?" I asked, completely confused. I knew absolutely nothing about pregnancy, and I hoped for all I was worth that this was normal.

"Well," she said. "I got a good whiff of your soap, and then I threw up."

I gave her a bewildered look. "Is that normal?"

She pondered that for a while. "Well," she said. "One time a pregnant prostitute stayed at our house and she always threw up in the mornings. She also always complained about smells. I think it's pretty normal…."

I heard a door open from across the hall, and Landon walked in looking all bleary eyed and ready to take a shower. "Oh," he said. "Good morning. Do I want to ask what you're doing in here this early?"

"I'm puking my guts out," Kat said candidly. "Though I think I'm doing alright now."

"That sounds really fun," said Landon. "I can use the downstairs bathroom…"

"No," said Kat. "I think I'm good. We'll skedaddle."

"Alright," said Landon.

I gave Kat a hand off the floor, and we both walked back into our bedroom. "I need to shower too," she said when we were back sitting in our room. She ran a hand through her hair. "I probably smell gross."

"Nah," I said. "You smell fine." I really hadn't noticed, though she probably hadn't showered in at least forty-eight hours at this point.

She scoffed. "Okay," she said. Landon was fast in the shower, and I took the time that Kat was in there to get the room straightened up. I went through the men's clothing, and found the things that definitely wouldn't fit me. I put them in an extra drawer in the dresser, but most of the stuff would honestly fit me. It was more clothing than I had ever had in my life.

Kat came back from the shower, and I helped her go through her clothes as well. There were a lot more that didn't fit her, but they had gotten a lot more clothes for her yesterday. We put all of the things that were unusable by us in that extra drawer, and then decided to go get breakfast. Dan said he had a lot of stuff to show us today, so we needed to get a good breakfast in.

Just about everyone was in there when we went into the kitchen. "Good morning," said several people. I smiled.

"How are you holding up Kat?" Dan asked.

"I puked up _everything_," Kat said. "But I feel awesome now."

"Alright then," said Dan. "As long as we've got that straight. You have to eat a _ton_."

Kat nodded and set her lip. "Let's do this."

She really committed. She ate a lot more than I was expecting she'd be able to. We were all really impressed, but she just laughed. After breakfast, Dan took us outside, and showed us what to do with our clothes when we shifted. It was kind of tricky, but I figured that if Kat could do it with a bra and shirt, I could figure out how to do it with just shorts. We worked more on intentional phasing, and I was proud to see Kat pick it up like a pro. She had complete control of her emotions. It was kind of inspirational to see.

Once we were both changed, as well as Dan, and several of the other guys, they took us around and showed us how to do a patrol. It was kind of hard to always be looking at the ground, and extremely disorienting, but not a difficult path to follow. We could see the two wolves that were out running patrol. They were massive, and I could smell them from up here. I felt extremely connected to them, even though I hadn't met the ones down there. Dan told us it was Brandon and Alexis. They had both chosen to graduate from the reservation's high school early, and had both been working since December of this year. They had gotten married about a month ago. They were the second generation of wolves. Their parents were Leah and Joel, and Sam and Emily. Nick, the one imprinted on Zemati, was Alexis's older brother. Jenny was Brandon's older sister.

_It's about eleven o'clock, _Dan thought. _If you want to meet them we can phase back. Their shift ends now._

_ Alright, _I thought, and Kat agreed. Being in her head was weird. She had a lot of fleeting thoughts about the pregnancy, and a lot of fleeting thoughts about me, but was mostly focused on taking in everything Dan was thinking. She was extremely smart, and very mature.

We phased back, and followed Dan through the woods and towards the back side of a house. "This is Jacob's house," Dan told us. "Brandon and Alexis live across the street, four houses away, but we can't just go strolling up through anyone's yard.

Sure enough, Alexis and Brandon were just getting home when we walked up. As they turned to greet us, I realized these kids were my age, and had already been married for a month. I felt extremely immature at that point, because I was thinking of how Kat and I were too young to be married, and definitely too young for her to be having a baby. But these kids had been married under good conditions, and willingly. I knew from what Dan told us that they had only been imprinted on each other for about a year, but they'd been best friends for their entire lives.

"Hi there," said Alexis, looking at Kat and I. "You must be Kat and Zeke. It's really great to meet you!"

I enjoyed her friendliness. "It's nice to meet you too," I said.

"Do you guys want lunch?" Brandon asked. "We've got plenty of food."

Kat scoffed. "You didn't see how much I ate at breakfast this morning."

Brandon smiled. "Try me," he said.

They led us into the house. I realized that at this point, it was just Dan, Adam, Kat, and me. The others had either not shifted back and gone home, or were talking to Jacob half a block away.

The house was nice. It was small, but it looked about the same size as all of the houses on the reservation. They led us into the kitchen, and Alexis started pulling out bread for ham and cheese sandwiches.

"So," Alexis said as she took out some condiments. "Since it's the elephant in the room, I heard you were pregnant." She winked at Kat.

"You heard right," said Kat. "Raped by a guy whose name I don't even know."

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," said Alexis. "I wouldn't have brought it up."

"What's done is done," said Kat. "Everyone really should know. And anyway, I feel like less of a whore if people know the truth."

"I can see that," said Alexis. "I suppose it would look kind of bad to an outsider. An unmarried girl being pregnant and all."

"Basically, I'm going to look like a total hoe in a couple of months," Kat said. It hurt me to realize that to someone else, she really would look like a promiscuous teenager. My Kat was so tough…

"Eh," Alexis said. "Anyone who doesn't know you doesn't have the right to judge, and if they do judge you, they don't have the right to know you."

Kat nodded. "I'm going to keep you around."

"I'm okay with this," said Alexis. "It's good to talk to someone my age, who I haven't known my whole life, and who also, upon occasion, bursts into an unnaturally large animal."

We all laughed. "I suppose I could say the same thing," said Kat.

The sandwiches were fantastic. Dan explained to Alexis and Brandon how our new family project was making Kat gain weight, and Kat laughed again. Her laugh made me smile, and I was amazed at how much my emotions were attached to hers. Alexis made Kat each two sandwiches, and drink a can of pop. Kat said she felt like she was going to explode, and Alexis told her that meant she had succeeded.

Dan and Adam left Kat and I with Brandon and Alexis, and went to join the others at Jacob's house. We helped Alexis and Brandon with cleaning up, and talked _a lot_. They were the first people we had talked to together that were imprinted on each other. They made us feel a lot more normal. We told them how we both felt super awkward and creepy at how much we liked/possibly loved each other, but they told us it was normal.

"I mean," said Alexis. "Really. Brandon and I are second cousins. This is incest. That doesn't mean we aren't absolutely in love with each other." They told us about how some of the guys had imprinted on girls way younger than them, and had still loved the girls, just in different ways.

"And since we're being honest," said Brandon. "Seeing as we imprinted on someone the same age as us, while in our upper teens, all we ever want to do is have sex with that person."

Kat and I both laughed. That made me feel even more normal. "Basically," I said.

"Yep," said Alexis. "So we got married so we could be virtuous and all. And let me tell you, it's worth the wait."

Kat laughed. "Thank you for being so open with us," she said. "I feel like that's really the best way to go."

"Definitely," said Alexis.

After helping them clean up, we walked back over to Jacob's house where everyone else already was.

"Hello," said a girl with a strange smell when we opened the door. "I'm Nessie," she said. "It's nice to meet you." A girl who looked much like her was in the entryway.

"I'm Eila," said the girl. "Her daughter." She jerked her thumb at Nessie.

"It's nice to meet you," said Kat. Eila smelled much like Cade, but with no wolf-gene. I noticed that Bryce was also here. He told me hello again, and introduced himself to Kat. She was doing well meeting everyone, completely friendly. I was proud of her.

We stayed and told Nessie and her kids about us a little bit, and they told us about them. Zemati, Nick's wife, showed up with their daughter Marah, and I remembered that Cade had imprinted on Marah. I watched how he acted with the girl who, though only a couple months old, was already starting to pull up on couches and was long past crawling. That vampire gene really did make kids grow faster…Zemati was actually younger than Cade…. That made my head hurt, so I stopped thinking about it.

We were only at the Black's house for about an hour. Dan was making us go to the store with him so we could get some food that Kat really liked. Abbey had also instructed him to make her buy prenatal vitamins. I had no idea what those were, what prenatal meant, or how we were going to find them, but Kat seemed to understand. The grocery store in town was small, but had everything that anyone in Forks or La Push would need. Kat tried to tell Dan that she would eat whatever they would normally buy, but he told her that if she didn't pick out food she liked he would buy the most expensive things in the store and make her eat them.

Kat wasn't a picky eater. Once we were inside the grocery store, Dan bought some things they were running low on at the house, and then made Kat pick out some things that sounded good to her. She chose yogurt, cookies, Hawaiian rolls, and prepackaged grilled chicken. Dan asked her if she had been having cravings, and I felt like a moron for not asking her sooner. "Honestly," she told Dan. "Considering I didn't even live here until two days ago, I was more concerned about getting _anything _to eat."

"I got you," said Dan.

We went to the other side of the store, where the pharmacy was and found an aisle with literally twenty different kinds of prenatal vitamins stocked on the shelves. The three of us stood facing the display. "Well," said Dan. "I've got nothing."

"Me neither," I said.

"Gee thanks," said Kat. "Thanks for that."

"Anytime," Dan and I said at the same time.

She picked up a few different ones, but settled on one that looked the most generic. "I figure I should cover the basics," said Kat.

"Sounds good to me," I said. "How are you feeling?" We started to make our way to the checkout line.

She shrugged her shoulders. "A lot better than this morning," she said. "Even after I puked, I still felt a little off. Eating helped though." She looked pensive. "My body honestly just feels tired," she said.

"We'll take you home," Dan said. "If you want to get some sleep or something."

Kat shrugged again. "It's hard to explain. It's just my body that's tired. Not my brain."

"Either way," I said. "You should rest. You've done a lot today."

"Yeah," Dan said. "And you've still got to get mentally prepared for dinner."

"Jesus," Kat said. "I feel like I just finished lunch. I'm not going to be able to keep up this eating a ton thing."

"You'll get used to it," said Dan. "You've still eaten less than the rest of us today. Once you start gaining weight, we'll see about backing off a little."

"I'm pregnant," said Kat. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to gain a lot of weight."

"More than a lot if we have anything to say about it," I said. She really was so small. I didn't even want to think about the problems that could result if she didn't gain weight. The price at the checkout counter wasn't too bad, but the prenatal vitamins were the most expensive thing we bought. Once we got home, I helped Dan put the groceries away, and made Kat go lay down on the couch. Robert assured me that he would sit on her if she tried to get up, but she told him she felt that it wouldn't be necessary.

I helped Dan make dinner that night. He said that they made dinner by week. This week just happened to be his. The person who was responsible for dinner that week was also responsible for grocery shopping, hence our trip earlier today. Dinner was simple. I had been making meals out of things since I was about eight, but having a fully stocked refrigerator and pantry was new for me. We made grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches, and heated up about a million French fries. At six o'clock, everyone who was home came into the kitchen to eat. Corey and Scott were out doing patrol, but Dan put food aside for them.

"Kat's zonked out on the couch," said Robert as he picked up a plate. "I didn't know what to do with her."

"I'll wake her up," I said. "She's got to eat."

My little Kat was curled up in a ball on the couch. She looked so vulnerable in her sleep. I loved her more for it. I ran my hand through her hair. "Kat," I said. "Kat." I ran from her hair down to her shoulder and shook her just barely.

Her eyes flickered. "Oh," she said. "I'm sorry. I must have dozed off."

I smiled at her. "You sure did," I said. "It's time for dinner."

She took a deep breath and stretched. "It smells great," she said.

Kat made it through a whole sandwich, half a plate of fries, and three of the cookies we had bought at the store. "I'm stuffed," she said.

"Eat another cookie," I told her.

She gave me a look. "Do you remember what happened this morning? Do you really want to see all of this come back up tomorrow morning?"

I tipped my head to her. "Good point."

She yawned. "That was delicious though."

"Mhm," I said. "You're ready for bed."

Kat laughed. "Man," she said. "You're going to force me to be healthy aren't you?"

"Basically," I said, sticking my tongue out at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Considering I've slept more in the last forty-eight hours than I normally do in a week, I'm good."

"Eh, lay off of her Zeke," said Dan. "I'm feeling like a movie tonight. Who's in?"

"Depends on the movie," Brian said.

"Something with a lot of guns," Dan said.

"Okay," said Brian. I hadn't seen a movie for fun since the school showed us one as a reward for having good attendance. I didn't care what they were watching. I was in.

"I'm in," I said.

"I'll fall asleep after ten minutes, but I'm willing to give it my best effort," said Kat.

Before the movie, Dan and I decided to contact our sisters. We decided to tell them that Dan had gotten a job, and after thirteen years of working hard, finally had enough money to get this house and come back for me. We were going to tell them that the other guys were his coworkers, and that he had had it rough for about ten years, and it wasn't until recently he felt capable of coming back for me at all. It wasn't a lie, but not entirely the truth either. We didn't know why our sisters hadn't changed. The eagle gene had obviously come from our mother, so they would have it too. Dan suggested that perhaps they would have changed if they had stuck around Alturas, or had been triggered by whatever triggered the two of us to change. They all sounded worried, but were happy to hear that I was out of Alturas. Only Candice and Jessa had called, and had assumed I was at work when I didn't answer. They all sounded okay, and I hoped we would be able to see them again someday. Apparently Candice had started dating another assistant director that was working on the same movie as she. She sounded completely love-struck when we were talking to her, and I was happy for my old pal.

About an hour later, after cleaning up, and some people choosing to put pajamas on, we were all sitting in the living room staring at the large flat screen TV. The movie was a classic action film. My eyes were on the screen, but my thoughts were on Kat. She lived up to her word and was asleep with her head on my shoulder in the first ten minutes of the movie. I was thinking about the future for us. She would have her baby, and I would likely act as that baby's father. I would need to get a job. I knew a lot of the guys worked part time for small businesses in town. I was an able worker. I had worked for some local food carts when I lived in Alturas. I'd have to go out and apply for jobs tomorrow morning. I knew the tribe supported us as best as they could, but I wanted to pull my own weight, especially if I was going to be raising a baby.

Raising a baby.

God, I didn't know how to do that. I was scared to death. What if this baby didn't love me? What if I saw it and didn't love it? It's not like it was mine. It's not like it had any blood ties to me whatsoever. It would love Kat because she was its mother. It didn't necessarily have to love me. But then I remembered what Dan had said about choosing the first moment he saw me to be my father. He _chose _to be my father, and I never questioned it. He loved me, and I loved him. I could _choose _to be the baby's father, and I would choose to love that baby.

I looked down at Kat sleeping peacefully on my shoulder. She had one arm draped across her stomach, and the other at her side. She was protecting that baby with an extra layer even in her sleep. Dan used to have me sleep against the wall, and put himself between me and the floor. He provided one extra layer between me and falling out of bed. I remembered how I lost I felt when he left, and how I had never really been the same since. I stared at her semi-covered belly, and in that moment, I just _knew_.

Blood relations didn't matter. Kat loved that baby, and I loved Kat, and I would never be able to not love something that she did. I thought of little hands, and little feet, and big brown eyes just like hers smiling up at me. I heard a sing-song voice calling me daddy, and I knew it didn't matter who had fathered the baby. Anyone could father a baby, and one day I would. But, not everyone could be a daddy, and I was determined to be that for this baby. It would need a daddy in its life, and I would do that. Staring down at her not-yet swollen stomach, I knew I loved this baby even before it was born.

The credits started to roll on the movie, and the guys were all talking and laughing about it. I realized I hadn't been paying attention to it for at least an hour. Kat stirred on my shoulder, and suddenly jerked her head up. She looked around, saw the credits on the screen, and laughed. "I managed to sleep through an entire movie. What can I say? It's a gift."

Everyone laughed at her, and I checked my watch. It was about 9:30 at night. "You ready for bed?" I asked her.

"Yep," she said. "I'm going to sleep like a champ."

I laughed again. "Nice," I said. "I'm going to join you."

"Good plan," she said. "It's going to be puke central here in about eight hours."

"That's the spirit," I said.

We climbed the stairs, and I shut the door behind us as we climbed into bed. She immediately crawled into my arms, and we assumed our position from the night before. "You know," she said. "I've been thinking about some things."

"Me too," I told her.

"And I have a really big favor to ask you," she said.

I kissed her on the head. "Anything," I said.

"I know I have no right to ask this," she said. "And I know it's not your responsibility, but I can't do this by myself." Her gentle voice broke on the word can't, and I rubbed the small of her back. "And I'm so sorry that you're tied to me by this…" she sobbed a little. "Whatever this is. But…" she coughed. "Will you please, for me, and for this baby, act as the baby's father?" she sobbed again. "That sounds awful…"

"No Kat, sh," I said. "Of course I will be. That's what I was thinking about today. I told you on that first morning; I'll be whatever you need." I put my hand on her flat, warm belly. "I've been thinking a lot. And this baby may not be mine, and I may have no right to it, but if you'll let me, I'm going to be this baby's daddy. Whoever is its father may be linked to it through blood, but I'm linking myself to it through love." I smiled a little nervously at her through the dark. "God, Kat, I already love that baby, because I love you. I couldn't ever feel anything but love for something that means so much to you." I kissed her head, and rubbed my hand on her stomach. "I'm asking you the favor," I said. "To let me be this baby's father, because you could say no. I don't think you would want me not to be in your life, but you could choose to not let me be in this baby's."

Kat was really crying now. "How in the hell did this conversation turn into me doing you a favor? How is forcing you into a fatherhood you aren't responsible for a favor?"

"You aren't forcing me," I said. "You're letting me."

Kat sniffed. "You know what else I've been thinking about?" she asked quietly.

"No…" I said, holding her close.

"That I love you," she said.

I kissed her head and chuckled. "I love you too," I told her. "Indubitably."

She laughed, and I wiped away the rest of her tears. "I'm definitely pregnant," she said. "Congratulations, you just made it through your first meltdown."

I laughed. "It wasn't that bad," I said.

"It's going to get worse," she told me.

"Better to start small," I said, and she laughed with me.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

We both fell asleep pretty quickly that night, but I made sure she was out before I let myself drift off into unconsciousness.

I was woken abruptly by Kat shoving her way out of my arms and high tailing it to the bathroom. The clock on the night stand said 5:30 am. I jogged out of the room after her, and held her hair back with one hand while rubbing her back with the other. The vomit didn't bother me very much, I was just worried about Kat. She retched one final time, and then flushed the toilet. "Alright," she said, sounding hoarse. "That was rough."

"How are you feeling?" I asked, pulling her into my arms and cradling her.

"Like that's going to happen in again in about twenty minutes."

That girl had some immaculate internal clock. She was right on target. Twenty minutes later, she was puking again, but mostly dry heaving. She puked three times in a half an hour. Around six, there was a knock on the bathroom door. I stood up to see who it was. I opened the door to see Justin. "Is now a bad time?" he asked, mostly sarcastically.

I nodded, giving him a look. "I'm going to go with yes on that one."

"Okay," he said. "I just got back from patrol with Dan. I'm supposed to remind you that you have your first one at eight o'clock tonight, and that we're having a meeting with everyone at four."

"Right," I said. I heard Kat retch again, and I looked over my shoulder at her. "We'll be there." I shut the door again.

When Kat finished this time, she requested water, and I jumped up to get her some. The kitchen had a few guys in it already, and more than I was expecting for it being this early.

"How's she doing?" Dan asked me as I came into the kitchen.

"Puking like a champ," I told him. "And the lady requests water." I filled up a cup for her. "I don't have any idea what I'm doing."

"Are you holding her hair back?"

"Yep."

"That's all I've got," Dan said.

"Alright," I said with a nod. "Round two." I walked back up the stairs with the water. Luckily, Kat only puked one more time that morning. She was feeling a lot better by seven am, and I got her downstairs for some breakfast.

"How are you feeling?" Corey asked as we came into the kitchen.

"Like I just dry heaved for an hour," Kat said. "But a lot better."

She looked pretty weak to me, and I got her a bowl of cereal. "Do you want a hardboiled egg?" I asked, seeing them in the fridge.

"Sure," she said. "That sounds good."

After making sure Kat kept down her food, and eating a little myself, I told Kat and Dan that I was going to go apply for some jobs. Kat offered to come with me, and I told her if she felt up to it she was welcome. She wanted a job too, but it would be tricky to get hired while pregnant. Dan told us it was good to do something normal, and would help with the bills and things. We flew into La Push, but phased back before cutting up through Jacob's backyard. We walked around to all of the local businesses. Most seemed happy to have us fill out an application, and some told us they were even looking to hire people. We shifted again and flew into Forks, and filled out about five more applications there. The library was looking for someone to do about twenty hours a week for them, and they told me my previous work experience would give me an in. The local diner needed a waitress to do the lunch shift, and they said Kat looked promising.

It took us longer than we expected, and we were both starving when we got back. Kat ate a ton at lunch again, thankfully. At 3:45 we headed out with whoever else was home, and followed them to the meeting place. We were meeting partially so Kat and I could meet everyone else, and partially because Jacob wanted to expand the patrol area a little bit.

The meeting place was in a big clearing, and when we landed, we all put just enough trees in between us to have some privacy. Kat only took a second longer to get dressed, and we all walked to a big clearing together. The wolves were either already there or just walking up.

We first started by going around the circle and either being introduced to, or greeting the wolves. Just as Jacob was starting the meeting, I heard a gasp from my left, and saw Alexis turn and run a few feet into the woods. I heard her retching, and saw Brandon follow her into the trees. Jenny, Sam and Emily's oldest who had given birth to a little boy named Grant at the same time Marah was born, was looking at the trees where Alexis had disappeared curiously. She shot Kat a look, and I saw Kat shrug. I was very confused.

Alexis came walking back out of the trees with Brandon looking concerned behind her. "Sorry about that," she said to Jacob. "I don't know what the heck is wrong with me. That's the third time that's happened in like a week. I just smell something and start puking. It's super obnoxious."

Jacob gave her a strange look. "Alexis," Jenny spoke up. "Are you pregnant?"

Alexis stared at her blankly for a long period of time. So long, I thought she might not have heard the question. "I don't know," she finally said quietly. She sounded shell shocked.

"Well," Jenny said. "When was your last period?"

Alexis scoffed. "Funny story…" she said.

"Yeah I don't keep track of mine either," Kristen said, explaining why Alexis wouldn't know.

"Okay first of all," Jenny said. "Start doing that. Both of you." She looked at Alexis. "How long ago would you guess?"

Alexis shook her head, and I saw the realization dawn in her eyes. "At least seven weeks," she said. "Oh my gosh…"

"Deep breath," Kat said. "It's going to be okay."

Alexis looked at her, and then back at Jenny. She looked terrified. "This explains a lot," she said.

"You've got that right," Brandon added. His voice was flat, mostly emotionless, but a little scared sounding.

"Well then," Jenny said. "I suppose you should take a pregnancy test. I have one at home. You can use it if you want."

"Holy shit," Alexis said. "I'm pregnant…"

"Holy shit is right," I said. "Been there. Like two days ago."

Brandon laughed nervously. "Oh boy."

"How did I not _know_?" Alexis asked.

"I didn't," Kat said. "I only started to suspect it a week ago, and I'm already a month pregnant."

"Jesus," Alexis and Brandon said at the same time.

"Exactly," Kat and I said at the same time.

"Well," Jacob said. "You guys go home and take a pregnancy test. Somebody can show you the new route the next time you run it. It's pretty simple."

"I'm freaking out," Alexis said.

"That means you're normal," Jenny said. "Come on you two. It only takes twenty minutes."

"Good luck," Kat said. "Whatever that means."

The new route was relatively simple. I couldn't even tell the difference between that one and the one Dan had taught me the day previously. I was nervous for tonight, but Dan assured me that usually, nothing happened.

Kat looked exhausted at dinner that night. She could barely keep her eyes open long enough to finish her plate, and I brought her upstairs for bed around 6:30. She didn't say a word, just curled up in a ball on her side and went right to sleep. I watched her sleeping form for a while, wondering if it was normal to be this tired. Right before I had to leave to do patrol, Abbey knocked on the front door. She had brought a book over that had all of the pregnancy basics in it, and laughed when I told her that Kat was already asleep. She told me it was totally expected, and to let her sleep as much as she was able.

Patrol was pretty calm. I got a little lost, but I was out there with Robert and he showed me some landmarks to look at so I could figure out where I was from up in the air. He was a cool guy, that Robert. He took a lot of interest in everything that was going on with me. We realized that neither of us knew if Alexis was pregnant or not, and figured we'd call over there if the others didn't know. Robert figured they probably just had a lot of people to call and had forgotten to call us. He asked me a lot about the situation with Kat, and I told him about our conversation from the night previous. He said he thought that it was really noble, but being inside of my head, I think he realized that I wasn't doing it as a favor; I actually wanted to be the baby's father. I wanted to be what Kat needed me to be, no matter what.

_She's taking this whole pregnancy thing pretty well, _Robert thought.

_Yes,_ I thought back. _But she's a survivor. Facing a pregnancy is something normal humans do. Normal humans don't have to sleep outside for fear of being found by their drunk father. That was her life three days ago._

_ I suppose that's true,_ Robert thought. _But still. I really appreciate that she can joke about it._

_ I'm with you on that one,_ I thought. _I can't stand people who can't take a joke._

_ That's why you imprinted on her,_ Robert thought. _You imprint on the person that you're meant for, and that's meant for you._

_ I thought it worked the other way. I thought that you imprinted on someone and that made you want to be the person that person needed._

_ No no no,_ thought Robert. _You two were meant to be together. Even if you hadn't been eagles and imprinted on each other, you'd probably have ended up together._

_ Wow,_ I thought, kind of surprised. _That rocks._

When we finished patrolling at ten o'clock, we went home immediately. I was pretty tired from being up early, and I knew I would likely be up early again with Kat. And our baby. _Our_ baby. I really liked the sound of that.

The phone rang literally as we were walking in the door. Apparently Jenny had made Alexis take three pregnancy tests, because the first one had come out negative. She figured it was too old or something, and Alexis took two more that were positive. Both she and Brandon were a little shocked, but they would be fine. I personally was kind of glad that we wouldn't be facing this pregnancy thing alone.

The next two weeks of Kat's pregnancy were all kind of the same. I got hired at the library, and they hired Kat to work a few shifts a week at the diner, and they were totally understanding of her being pregnant. They said she wouldn't be the first, and they really only needed her for a couple of shifts a week. If she couldn't come in, it wouldn't be a big deal to get it covered. She was ecstatic, and her first couple of shifts went well.

When Kat was seven weeks pregnant, she was getting a little moody. She was also more tired than ever, and the morning sickness was at its peak. Abbey gave her some tips to make it less severe, but she all she could really do was truck through it. It had been a rough day for Kat. She had worked, and it was pretty busy, so she was exhausted. She wouldn't let me take her patrol shift after, even though I really tried to. She came back and literally looked on the verge of collapse. We sat her down at the table and made her eat a little, but I could see that she had really had enough, and just needed to go to bed. She'd only eaten half a sandwich, but had gained three pounds, so we were heading in the right direction.

I was in the kitchen cleaning up her food, and Corey, whom she had been patrolling with, was cleaning up his. Dan came in, and he was already in his pajamas. "Zeke," he said.

"Dan," I said, and I knew I sounded a little cranky.

"How's she doing?"

"She's exhausted," I said, keeping it to the point.

"I suppose it's expected," Dan said. He paused when I didn't respond. I really wasn't in the mood. I was tired, Kat was tired, the baby was probably tired, and it had been a long day for all of us. "And how are you doing?" he asked me.

The question kind of took me by surprise. "I'm fine," I said.

"Zeke," he said. "You're exhausted. You're up every single morning with Kat, and up late every night. You've added a job to your life that you've only had for three weeks. You did the middle of the night shift last night, and hardly slept because Kat started puking at like four in the morning."

"What's your point?" I snapped, putting my arms out. I felt myself starting to lose control, and Dan gave me a minute to keep it in check. I steadied myself by thinking about Kat, and got myself together. "Sorry," I said. "I'm just tired."

"I know," said Dan. "And that was my point. Everything you're doing is really noble, and I know it's what you want to do, and I'm very proud of you for it. Seriously, I am."

"Thank you," I said.

"But Zeke," he said. "I need you to take care of yourself too. You're getting run down."

"Fatherhood at its finest," I said.

"Yes," Dan said. "But really Zeke. It's not good for you; it's not good for the flock. You don't have to do everything. You can go to bed early. You don't have to clean up after Kat, you don't even have to clean up after yourself. We're a family, and we can help you. You can go to bed when Kat does. You don't have to stay up if you don't feel like it. Be your own priority."

I raised my eyebrows at him. I really didn't know what to say to that. How could he think that that was an option? And then I remembered: He really didn't understand. Maybe he understood what it meant to love someone, but he did not understand what it was like to imprint on someone. For the first time in my life, at least this new one, I felt like my older brother couldn't relate to me. Kat was _it_. She was the _only_ priority.

"Dan," I said slowly. "Kat is my only priority." I took a deep breath. "She is first, the baby is second, and I am third. If she's taken care of, and _our_ baby is taken care of, then I will take care of myself, and not before then."

Dan starred at me for a long time. "Okay," he said finally, sounding resigned. "Just make sure that when that baby comes, you're ready, and not so tired you have nothing left to give it."

I nodded. "Thank you for caring so much about me."

"That's my job," he said.

I smiled a little at him. "Okay," I said. "And now I'm going to go do my job." I jerked my thumb upstairs, and slowly trudged up them.

When I went in, Kat had fallen asleep in her clothes, and I didn't blame her. I pulled my shirt off. The room was pretty humid. It was June, and though it never got that hot in Washington, the Cullens had never gotten an air conditioner installed. The eagles didn't see a reason for it, and I tended to agree. I turned on the overhead fan, and pulled the sheet off of Kat. She was sweating, so I took her socks off for her at least. She wasn't wearing very much, so I figured she'd be cool enough. I climbed into bed, and was asleep instantly.

It felt like minutes later that I felt my arm being tapped, and heard short, ragged breathing.

I was awake instantly. "Kat," I said, forcing myself to sound calm. "What's wrong?"

She was really breathing hard, and hardly breathing in at all. "I," she said. "Feel. Like. I . Can't. Breathe."

I was panicking. "Try to stay calm," I said, and I was amazed at how even I managed to make my voice. I grabbed the land line off of the nightstand, and dialed Abbey's number, thanking God that I had taken the time to memorize it. She answered sounding surprisingly alert. I told her what was happening, and she immediately sprang into her doctor mode.

"Put some pillows under her head, and stay on the line with me, I'm driving over there just as soon as I can get my shoes on."

I took my pillow and put it under her head, stacking it on top of hers. Kat was really pale, and I was worried she was going to pass out.

"Tell her she needs to get air to her and the baby," Abbey instructed, and I heard her car roar to life. I did as she said, and Kat met my eyes. She knew what she had to do, and was scared because she couldn't do it.

"She's trying," I said, speaking for her. Some part of me realized that the rooms around us were waking up, and I heard them in the hallway whispering to each other.

"Hold her hand," Abbey said. "Try to be comforting. Tell her that you know she's under a lot of pressure, but that she's doing great. Tell her the things I can't."

I put the phone down, and took Kat's hand. She wrapped her fingers loosely around mine. I ran my other hand up and down her arm. "Kat," I said. "Kat I'm so proud of you. You've had to deal with so much in these last couple of weeks, and you're doing it like a champ. You're working to provide for our baby, and still doing your duty to the tribe, and our family. You're gaining weight like you're supposed to, you're sleeping more, you're doing everything you possibly can to help our baby." I kissed her forehead, and knew that her feeling hotter than me wasn't a good sign. "Kat," I continued. "I love you, and our baby, and our baby loves you a lot. Try to blow out, and take a deep breath in."

Kat got a decent breath in, and I picked up the phone. "It's probably just typical shortness of breath," said Abbey. "Some women get it really bad. I've never had someone pass out on me, but they've been close. Way to keep your cool Zeke."

"What else can I do for her?" I asked, and I knew I sounded desperate.

"Just be there," said Abbey. "I'm almost there."

I kept my hand in Kat's, and met her eyes. She was getting her breath back definitely, but still wasn't looking capable of speech. I kissed the hand that I was holding. "Good," I told her. "Just keep trying for deep breaths."

I heard feet on the stairs, and someone opened the door for Abbey. She must have sped like a demon to get here. She raced up the stairs, but came into the room looking completely cool and collected. "Hey guys," she said.

She immediately put one hand on Kat's stomach, and the other on her face. "You're doing well," she told Kat. "Just keep trying to make my hand go up as high as you can."

It was only a few minutes before Kat's breathing was quiet and normal sounding again. She looked a little shell-shocked, and sad. She blew out once more. "Okay," she said. "Was that all in my head, or is there something wrong with me?"

Abbey smiled at her. "There's nothing wrong with you Kat, you're just pregnant. It's typical to feel short of breath, and I've seen this happen before. It shocks you. You wake up all panting, and your brain isn't working because you're tired, and all of the sudden you're hyperventilating. It's not in your head, it's a natural reaction. Is there something really preventing you from breathing? No, but your body sure thinks there is. Plus, in this stage of the pregnancy, your body is requiring extra oxygen. It's easy to hyperventilate with all of that going on."

I saw that the door had been left open, and everyone was standing awkwardly in the hallway.

Kat sighed. "I feel like an overly dramatic pregnant woman who acted retarded."

"Oh my gosh no," said Abbey. "Please, there are plenty of those women out there, and you certainly are not one of them. You're a woman with a lot on her plate, and who's tackling it as best as she can. Did you have a rough day?"

"Yes," Kat said.

"Another easy reason for this to happen," said Abbey. "Just remind yourself that you are doing the best you can, okay? You're only one girl, and you are totally kicking this pregnancy in the ass."

Kat scoffed. "Oh, it's a battle."

"You bet it is," said Abbey. She stood up and brushed herself off. "You know why?" she asked.

"Why?" Kat said, humoring her.

"Because you're a mother fucking tiger who's earing her stripes."

Kat and I both laughed. "That's great," Kat said. "Heck, I just have to say that line in my head and I feel better already."

"That's my job," Abbey said. "Now you get some sleep. The morning sickness really won't last much longer, I swear."

Kat nodded. "Alright," she said. With my hand in hers, I could already feel her drifting to sleep. Her grip was loosening already.

I pulled away from her and followed Abbey down the stairs, past the guys who were either going back to bed or still whispering to each other. "Abbey," I said. "Thank you."

"This is what I do," said Abbey. "And I love it."

"Do you think that will happen again?" I asked.

"Not likely," Abbey said. "This is partially because this is her first pregnancy, and she doesn't know what to expect. Knowing Kat though, she'll learn from what happened tonight. She'll remind herself of how well she's doing, and not put so much pressure on herself. Great job tonight by the way. You totally kept your cool. I was really impressed."

"Thanks," I said. "I was panicking on the inside though."

"Totally normal," Abbey remarked.

I made sure she got to her car and that it started, and locked the door behind me. The other guys had all gone back to bed, and so I shut off the hall light, and slid back into bed with my beautiful, exhausted, tiger who was most definitely earning her stripes.

When I look back at it, I'm not sure how we both survived the first trimester of Kat's pregnancy. By some miracle, we got through Kat's morning sickness. It only lasted through her tenth week. One morning Kat just woke up and felt better. She was pretty cranky sometimes, but wasn't ever mean. I was so proud of her. She had gotten a couple of ultrasounds, and Abbey said everything was looking good. Kat was still flat as a board though. Abbey said that sometimes happened during a woman's first pregnancy. Alexis wasn't showing either, though her mother never really did. Kristin and David got married that August, and though the wedding was just us, there was nothing small about our family get-togethers. They moved into a recently vacated house just about a block away from Claire and Quil's house, and were very happy.

On the first day of Kat's second trimester, we didn't wake up until eight am. I had done patrol from two to four in the morning, and Kat just slept all the time. We woke up to the sounds of everyone else in the kitchen. I rolled over to see Kat already awake. "Good morning," I said to her with a smile.

She smiled back. "Good morning," she said. She slid closer to me, and I welcomed her into my arms with a kiss on the head. She had her hand on her stomach. "Guess what?" she prompted.

"What?" I asked. She took my hand in hers, and put it on her stomach. I felt the small, hard bump in between her hips, and grinned at her. "You're showing," I said.

She nodded with a smile. "Yep," she said. "Our little one finally decided to make an appearance. I noticed it this morning when I woke up."

I laughed, a little breathless. My hand was still on her stomach, touching _our_ baby. It was surreal for me. I tilted my head down and put my lips on hers. "You're beautiful," I told her. "Just so you know."

She laughed. "Whatever you say Zeke, whatever you say."

We both crawled out of bed, and I realized that the sun was shining. I think it might have been the first time that happened since we moved here. "It looks nice out," I said.

"Sure," she said. "But it's pretty warm."

"I'm going to soak up the sun while I have the chance," I told her.

She walked into the closet where I was currently grabbing my clothes.

"Shit," she said. "I'm going to need clothes."

"I get paid tonight," I told her. "We can go tomorrow."

"You know," she said. "I'm in love with you."

I grabbed her hips and spun her around, planting a kiss on her lips. "I also, am in love with you."

Kat did go maternity clothes shopping the next day, but only bought a few essentials. The other members of the pack and flock had a ton of maternity clothes that were still in good shape that they could give her as hand-me-downs. Kat and I were trying to save money for the baby, and all of the things it would need.

That night, in celebration of the good weather, Jacob and Nessie were hosting a bonfire. _Everyone_ was going. They were even taking off from patrol. The other eagles seemed pretty excited about it, and we fed off of their energy. Neither Kat nor I had to patrol or go to work that day, and around two we helped Dan, Ricky, and Adam make about eight dozen deviled eggs. It looked like overkill to me, but they swore they never had left overs. Seeing how much food we consumed at this house, I believed it.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

At five o'clock, we all loaded into cars and trucks and jeeps, and headed over to Jacob's. Dan made Robert squeeze into the back of his car so Kat didn't have to, and I was again grateful for the support of my family.

I had never seen the whole family together, but it really was huge. Kat took a chair by Alexis, and told me she planned on only moving when absolutely necessary. I laughed, but figured she was probably telling the truth. Jenny's little boy Grant, and Claire's little girl Christine were adorable. They were only seven months old, and had both just started sitting up. Marah, though the exact same age as them, was already trying to walk. She liked to hold Cade's hands and toddle around, and Nick and Zemati were happy to let her.

Watching these kids with their parents, I realized how quickly that would be Kat and I. Six months may seem like a long time, but not when you're looking at all of the things you have to do before it. Trying not to stress, I got Kat and I a plate. I made sure she ate all of it, and even brought her a few seconds. Kristin, David, Allison, Joshua, Kelsey, Madison, and Marcus were hot dog roasting machines. They had piles and piles of them made. I noted that Nessie, Eila, Cade, Zemati, and Marah didn't eat any of the human food.

Seth and Abbey were sitting on the other side of Alexis and Brandon. I had taken Kat's seat and she was on my lap. "So," Abbey said. "Congratulations, you made it to the second trimester."

"Crushed it," Alexis said with a fist pump.

"I like the energy," Abbey said. "This is the best trimester."

"Yeah?" Kat said. "And why is that?"

"Well," Abbey said. "I could give you the whole story about hormones and chemicals and things, but it's honestly just because the sex is good."

I choked on my spit. "Wow," I said. "You just laid that one out there."

"It's true," Abbey said, laughing. "Seriously. Plus, it helps keep the pregnancy full term. Which, since Kat is still underweight, is still somewhat of a concern."

"Wait wait wait," Kat said. "Are you saying that having sex is going to be good for the baby?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Abbey said. "I want that baby born at forty weeks and not a day sooner."

Kat and I looked at each other. "What if I told you we weren't having sex…?" Kat asked Abbey.

"Oh my god," said Abbey. "I'm so sorry I just kind of assumed you were."

"Well," Kat said. "I know we act like it, but we aren't married…"

"Right, right," Abbey said. "No I totally get that."

"But," Kat said. "Morals aside… it would be beneficial to the baby?"

"And you," Abbey said.

"Well then," Kat said. "It looks like we're having sex Zeke."

I didn't know how to answer. I never thought my first time, especially not after meeting Kat, would come as a suggestion from a doctor. These were strange times I was living in…. Strange times.

"I'm in," I said. "No pun intended."

Kat laughed. "That was terrible."

"If I'm hearing what I think I'm hearing," Dan said. "We're sleeping somewhere else tonight boys."

"Why?" chorused several voices. Unfortunately, most of the adult population was listening now.

"Because Zeke and Kat need privacy."

"Jesus," said Kat loudly. "You don't have to broadcast it to everyone."

"Everyone will know eventually anyway," said Dan. "I'm just cutting to the chase."

"I'm going to kill you," said Kat. "Or cry. Or both. Or kill you while crying."

"That would truly be a terrible death," said Dan. "Excuse me while I prepare to act scared of the five foot nothing ninety pound girl."

"One hundred pounds!" Kat screeched. "And going up."

"Wow, that's actually really good," Dan said. "She's gained ten pounds boys. Our plan is working." Several of them high-fived or fist pumped the air.

"I think the baby is just growing," I said.

"Shut-up, don't steal our thunder," said Dan. He smirked at me, and I rolled my eyes.

The bonfire lasted well into the night. All of the children Cade's age and younger were put inside to watch a movie around ten, and when they were checked on, were all sound asleep. Cade was awake, but he was keeping an eye on all of the kids. Kat dozed in my arms, but she wasn't feeling nearly as tired as she had been three weeks ago. I was glad to see that she was comfortable enough to sleep in my arms. I couldn't imagine being pregnant, but I figured that carrying a baby in your stomach couldn't be entirely comfortable.

"I can take you guys home if you want," Dan said to me.

I hadn't realized he was serious about not staying at home that night until that moment. My stomach gave a nervous lurch as I realized what the rest of my night was going to be like. Kat opened her eyes. "Yes," she said. "Let's go home."

"There you have it," I said to Dan.

Alexis squeezed Kat's hand as we were standing up to leave. "Have fun," she said.

"That's a lot of pressure," Kat said. "But alright."

The ride home was pretty quiet. Dan and I talked a bit, but Kat was mostly quiet. I hoped she wasn't nervous… though I knew I definitely was. "I would offer you condoms," Dan said. "But that ship has sailed."

"Fuck you," Kat said.

He didn't respond, he just smirked. When we got home, Dan dropped us off at the front door. I put my arm around Kat's waist as we walked up the steps on the porch, and she leaned into me. Dan made sure we got into the house, but then drove away. This was it.

"Kat," I said as we walked up the stairs. "We don't have to do this you know."

She smiled at me. "It's healthy for the baby," she said. "And I'll do anything for it."

"I know," I said. "But if you aren't comfortable with this…"

She chuckled. "Just…" she said, thinking. "Be gentle."

I nodded. "Definitely."

She turned to face me when we got to the landing. "It's just…" she trailed off again. "Last time…. When I was raped…. Well it hurt a lot."

I rubbed the small of her back, doing my best not to get angry at that guy. What was done was done. "I bled _a lot_," she said. "He didn't slide into me, he ripped me open."

"Oh Kat," I said, pulling her closer. She was pressed to me now, and I could feel that small little bump between her hips. I couldn't believe that something so beautiful had resulted from something so violent. I could tell she was crying, and I cradled her head on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," she said. "It's no one's but his." She wrapped her hands around me and held on tightly. "Just promise you'll go slowly."

"Of course," I said. "As long as you're comfortable, that's all I'm worried about."

She patted my back. "Well," she said. "I know that this is your first time, so I'll try not to disappoint."

"You could never disappoint me Kat."

She laughed. "Whatever you say." She sniffed. "I could use a moment," she said. "I'll meet you in our room?"

"Sure," I said.

She walked into the bathroom, and I took a seat on our bed. I took a deep breath, trying to not to be nervous. I thought about what we were going to do. I wasn't much for religion, but I had always kind of figured that the first time I had sex, it would be with my wife. Sex was sacred. I'd never prayed before, but I figured now was the time. I thought:_ Dear God, if you're there, please be understanding, and please forgive us if this is wrong. Our intentions are good, and we mean no disrespect to the sanctity of marriage. Amen. _

I heard Kat still in the bathroom, and I realized just how vulnerable I was about to become. I took a deep breath, and lay back on the bed, closing my eyes. This was _Kat_. Everything would be fine.

She came out of the bathroom then, and I was grateful to see that she was still dressed. She had removed her jean jacket, but was still in shorts and a blouse. She lay down on the bed next to me and scooted close. I held her in my arms the way that we did every night. She leaned up and kissed me, and for a while, that was all we did. "I love you," she told me.

"I love you too," I said. She met my eyes through the dark, and I took that as my cue to go ahead.

I pulled her into another kiss, and though this was all new to me, it felt natural. I took my hand and slid it up her leg, to her hip, then to the hem of her shirt. I started pulling it up, and using our arms, we both propped ourselves up. We sat, and she raised her arms so I could pull her shirt off. Her bra was pale pink, but the sexiest thing I had ever seen. She smiled at me as I took in all of her, and then immediately took my shirt off.

We came together again, and her bare skin against mine sent fire through me, just like it had the first time we touched. I felt all of her bare back, and she traced her hands all over my upper half. She lay back, guiding me on top of her. Thinking of the baby, I made sure not to put too much weight on her. She grabbed my belt loops, and worked her way toward the button. She got them undone, and I wiggled out of them. I followed her lead, and pulled hers off as well. She was already working on my boxers, and I helped her to pull them off. I was fully naked now, but I didn't feel vulnerable. She was perfect.

I shuddered as she started working with her hands, and I felt myself expanding to her touch. I didn't know how she could make me feel that way, but I never wanted her to stop. She giggled, and I turned my attention back to her. I pulled her off the bed, planting her on top of me. She straddled my hips, and I used my hands to unhook her bra. Without any more thoughts, I pressed my left hand to her breast. It was so _soft_, and _warm_, and _round_. I drummed my fingers on it, feeling it move under me. It was like nothing I could describe. I pushed my head toward her other breast, and began kissing it. She was breathless, and shuddered the same way I had. I got her nice and worked up, and then slowly laid her back down on the bed.

"Zeke…" she said.

I chuckled, pulling her panties off with one swift tug. I went back to her, kissing her mouth, down her neck, spending some extra time on both breasts, and then down to her stomach. I pressed my lips to the small bump in between her hips, and laid my head on it. The firmness of it was surprising to me, but I only stayed there for a minute. I kept on moving down, not stopping when I felt the wetness between her legs. I worked on her there for a while, and then came back to meet her lips.

She sighed as we kissed. "Are you ready?" I asked her, pulling back for a moment.

"Yes," she said breathlessly.

She spread her legs, and tilted her hips up slightly so I would have a better angle. I put my hands on her inner thighs, and slid them closer to her inch by inch. I traced my fingers up and down her, and slowly slid them into her. She winced, and I got nervous. I didn't move. "I'm fine," she said. "Just don't stop…"

I slid another finger in, and I felt her pulsing. She clamped around me, and I held my hand there as she took in a breath and released. I pulled my hand out, and immediately thrust my hips towards hers. I hovered over her for an instant, but seeing the smile on her face, I went for it.

We fit together like puzzle pieces.

She was so warm, and moist, and she hugged me just right. She groaned, and I put my lips on hers. I used my strong arms to hold myself above her, making sure not to suffocate her or hurt the baby. I started to gyrate against her, and she moaned. I couldn't help but make similar noises.

I felt myself beginning to climax, and I couldn't imagine feeling something as strongly as I did at that moment. I loved Kat, and she was my only thought. Her name was all I could say, and I knew, as I felt myself climaxing, that she was at the same time. I kept pumping her, feeling myself expand and release inside of her, as she tightened and released all around me. Her walls broke down, and as I slowly pulled out, we were both breathing hard.

I lay down next to her, covered in sweat, she the same way. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, and for one moment I worried she would lose her breath again. She rolled over onto her side, pressing herself to me.

I put one hand on our baby, and the other hand behind her head, running my hand through her hair. Feeling that little bump, I knew that at that moment, the baby was as much mine as it was hers. Babies were created out of love, not out of lust. We had loved each other, and that man hadn't loved Kat. I loved Kat, and our baby, and I wouldn't let anything change that.

"That was beautiful," Kat said.

"You're beautiful," I told her, kissing her head.

She laughed. "You're quite sexy yourself."

We talked for a while, kissing each other gently, and slowly but surely, drifted to sleep in each other's arms.

The next morning we were woken up early by our family reentering the house. It was only about seven am. Kat met my eyes, and I rolled them as I heard how purposely noisy they were being. I guess they just wanted to make sure we knew they were home. Kat and I sat up, and we both shook our muscles out. We both stretched, and I felt better than I had in weeks.

"How are you feeling?" I asked Kat.

"A little sore," she admitted. "But fine. That was awesome."

I smiled. "Come on," I said. "Let's get dressed and go get some breakfast. Our little guy still needs food."

"Ha," said Kat. "This girl needs food."

A few minutes later Kat and I were walking into the kitchen. "Good morning," said Dan. He was at the stove, and I smelled eggs. "Do you want eggs?"

"Holy moly yes I do," said Kat. "Houston, we may have our first craving."

"Well that was lucky," said Dan with a laugh.

"You're on my list of favorite people right now," said Kat.

Dan finished the eggs he was making and put them on a plate for Kat. She started gobbling them up. "This is pretty unattractive," said Kat with a mouthful of egg.

"You gaining weight attracts me," I said. "You scarf those eggs girl."

"I'm burning my mouth," she said. "Totally worth it."

We all laughed. "So how was your night last night?" I asked no one in particular.

"We didn't go to bed until three am. Cade fucking destroyed us at a video game," said Ricky. "Jacob and Nessie went to bed, Cade got out of bed, walked into the living room, picked up a controller, and suddenly started kicking our butts. He literally didn't say a word all night, just played that game like it was his job. It was hilarious."

"That sounds awesome," I said.

"…And how was your night?" Alex asked tentatively.

"Eh," said Kat. "We slept a lot."

"Yeah?" asked Alex.

"Yeah," said Kat. "For like, seven eighths of the night."

"Hm…" said Alex. "And the other eighth…" He was baiting her, seeing if she would say it.

"We screwed each other like animals," she said, taking the bait.

"Wow," said Dan. "Thanks for the candidness."

"Anytime," said Kat. She swallowed her last bite of eggs.

"Want more?" asked Dan.

"Nah," said Kat.

"Any other cravings?" I asked.

"No," said Kat. "But I'm feeling like they are going to start. You're going to be finding me food at like two in the morning."

"Oh boy," I said.

"That was your warning."

"I'm heeding it."

The second trimester of Kat's pregnancy was pretty calm. Her hormones had evened out quite a bit, and she wasn't nearly as moody or tired. She got out of breath really easily, and couldn't run nearly as fast as she wanted to. I told her to take it easy. She started working more hours at work, and made some friends there. Apparently, one of the other waitresses was pregnant too, and they swapped stories. She was crazy horny, and I was all too willing to oblige. The other guys tended to run for cover if they figured out what we were doing, but sometimes they slept right through it. She tended to crave bacon at extremely strange hours, like in the middle of the night. More than once, the two of us were up cooking bacon at two or three in the morning.

We got a call in November from Jessa saying that she had her baby. It was a little boy named Simon. He looked just like his father apparently, and Dan and I couldn't wait to meet our nephew. Jessa was glad that he would have a cousin just a couple of months younger than him on this side of the family.

When Kat was about twenty weeks pregnant, her belly had gotten a lot rounder, but was still manageable. Her back hurt her if she stood for a while, but she was still alright at work as long as she took her break every two hours. I was proud of my little, but growing bigger, tiger.

One night, we were all sitting in the living room, watching the news. Kat had to leave for patrol in about half an hour, and I was trying to get her to sit and rest before she went. All of the sudden, Kat gasped, and sat forward in her seat. "What's wrong?" I asked fearing the worst.

She didn't answer for a second, and my fear increased. She took in a deep breath. "I just felt the baby move," she said. "I'm positive of it."

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said. She smiled. "It's alive within me!" She made her best Dracula voice.

"That is pretty exciting," I said.

Kat didn't get in until ten o'clock that night, and was looking pretty tired. I was up reading the pregnancy book when she came in. She took her shoes off, grabbed her pajamas, and changed into them, right there in front of me. That was one thing that had changed since we started having sex: we were a lot less awkward living in the same room. We talked a little, and I shut off my light as she climbed into bed.

She, just like every night, scooted close to me and I wrapped my arms around her. I wasn't able to hold her nearly as closely as I used to, but we were still body to body, and that was okay with me. Our little guy was practicing sleeping in the middle I guess. Suddenly, Kat gasped again.

"Another kick?" I asked her.

She smiled and nodded. "I bet you can feel this one."

She took my hand and put it on her side. Sure enough, I could feel a faint movement under Kat's skin. It was so small, and I realized how little this baby would be when it was born. I laughed, breathless. "That is truly beautiful," I said. I gently kissed her forehead, and we drifted off to sleep.

By the time Kat was entering her third trimester, it was already Halloween. She was a lot bigger, and had gained almost twenty-five pounds at this point. Everything was looking a lot more filled out now. We picked names for our baby, and heard its heartbeat. Kat didn't want to know if it was a boy or girl, and I really didn't care either way. If it was a girl, her name would be Melanie. If it was a boy, his name would be Zander. We both liked the names, and thought that they were something they could grow into.

If Kat had been exhausted during her first trimester, she was dead on her feet during her third. She barely made it through the day. It wasn't until after thanksgiving that she finally asked me to take one of her patrol shifts. I took it without another thought. Just about every night, if neither of us was running patrol, I would rub Kat's lower back, then her feet, and finally, as I was falling asleep, her swollen belly. I liked to feel the baby move for one, and for another, it's kicks were leaving her very sore. Abbey said we could expect some broken ribs, but none had occurred just yet. Sometimes she asked me to rub her breasts. I was entirely too happy to feel her growing chest, and apparently rubbing them took some of the soreness away. That was fine by me. Dan had spoken to Kat and I about maybe getting us a house on the reservation. We didn't think we could afford it, but he seemed to think that the tribe could help us a lot. It seemed pretty out of reach to me, but Dan said he'd look into it for us.

By Christmas, Kat and Alexis were only two weeks away from their expected due date. The Cullens had flown in to spend Christmas with the family, and I was happy to finally meet them. Edward, Carlisle, Bella, and Andrea all planned on helping with the births. Edward had been a doctor at the Forks hospital before they left, and Bella had been a nurse. Andrea, a newer member of the family, was currently going through med school. She wasn't going to do much but observe, and help like Bella. They were fantastic people, and so kind. Kat and Andrea got along very well actually. Kat's baby was officially facing head down, which was a sign that she was almost ready to give birth.

Christmas was a massive celebration for our family. Everyone came over to our house, even the Dapoli vampires (Zemati's family who lived in Forks) joined us. Both Kat and Alexis spent all of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day tucked into the couch next to each other. Both were in high spirits if nothing else. They were excited to hold their babies soon. As for me, I was just waiting for the day. Kat and I could only afford small gifts for our family, but they all got us each a pretty large gift: a cell phone. They said that they could tie us into their plan, so it would be cheap. We were both extremely grateful, and I realized that these cell phones were a step towards our independence.

I'd been doing a lot of thinking about my future with Kat. Sure, we would be raising this baby, but would we ever want more? Would we want a family? I spent the majority of her third trimester thinking about it, but by Christmas, I had decided. I was going to buy Kat a ring, and ask her to marry me. The ring would have to be relatively cheap, I only had about two thousand dollars to spend. I had what I had come here with, and part of my wages from the last nine months. I told Dan my plans for marrying Kat, and he thought it was a great idea. He had helped Michael pick out a ring for Lyssie back when they got married, and he had some ideas to keep the price down for me.

So, the day after Christmas, when Kat was still asleep, Dan and I got up at the crack of dawn and made the drive to Port Angeles , where there was a jeweler. We spent a little over an hour picking out the ring, and making sure it was the right size. Fortunately, the jeweler was just a small little shop, so the guy was really willing to work with me. I ended up only spending fifteen hundred dollars, and figured that was another five hundred dollars I could put away for the baby, or for a house if we bought one. When we got back to the house, it was almost ten o'clock and Kat was still sound asleep. She would never expect anything.

Kat was due around the first of the year. By the time we got to New Year's Eve, Kat was huge. I could barely wrap my arms all the way around her. She was exhausted, but very excited. Her feet were swollen all the time, and her back was killing her, but my little tiger was toughing it out. She said she felt like a gigantic swollen balloon, but I loved her more for it. She was beautiful.

The whole family didn't usually get together for New Year's Eve, they just met in smaller groups. We were all going over to Sam and Emily's house. Joel and Leah's family were going to be there as well, so it would be a crowded house. It was snowing like crazy that night. There was a foot of snow on the ground by the time we were leaving, and ice everywhere. Even our hot bodies took a minute or two to melt through the snow and ice. We were all walking out the front door and piling into the cars.

Dan was in front of Kat and I, and I saw him slip and almost fall on the ice, and laughed at him even though he caught his balance. I was holding Kat's hand, and suddenly I felt a sharp tug on my arm. I turned around just in time to see Kat slip and fall on the ice. She landed hard, and I heard her gasp suddenly.

"Shit," she muttered. She looked up at me as I started to pull her off the ground. "Zeke," she said. "My water just broke."


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

"PANIC!" Justin yelled immediately.

"Stop," said Dan. "Jesus, you're bad in an emergency."

"Let's get you back inside," I said, fighting both fear and excitement. I turned and led Kat back inside, the others clearing a path for us.

"I'll shoot Abbey a call," said Dan.

"Good plan," I said.

I sat Kat down on the couch, and saw the fear in her eyes. "Don't be scared," I told her. "Everything will be okay."

I saw the fear turn to pain, and she closed her eyes. She took a deep breath. I sat down next to her, and put my arm around her shoulders. She put both of her hands on my other hand and started to squeeze the life out of it. "Oh my gosh…" she said, cutting herself off by inhaling again.

She opened her eyes and looked at me. "This is going to suck," she said.

I rubbed her arm comfortingly, and knowing that we should be keeping track of contractions, pulled out my phone to write down the time the contraction had come, and for how long it had lasted. "You did well," I said. "I'm really proud of you."

She sighed. "I'm scared."

"I know," I said. "But I'm going to be here okay? The whole time, I won't leave."

She nodded. "I just hope Abbey or one of the other doctors can get here soon. There's a lot of snow out there."

"We're supernatural beings," I told her. "If we can be stopped by a little snow, we've got bigger problems."

She chuckled. "I suppose you're right."

Just moments later, another contraction came. It lasted for about the same amount of time, but Kat was ready for it. She still clung to my hand so hard it hurt, but made no noise except for breathing. The other guys were still standing in the entryway, looking as awkward as ever. I wrote down the same information on this contraction as I did with the last. "Well done Kat," I said, kissing the top of her head as she leaned into me.

Dan came into the room then, shutting his phone as he did so. "Alright," he said. "I talked to Abbey, and she is sending Carlisle, Edward, and Bella over here. Alexis went into labor about half an hour before you did, and her water also just broke. Abbey and Andrea are staying with her."

"Okay," Kat and I said at the same time.

"Also, she says to walk around a little bit, and take a lot of deep breaths."

"Alright," said Kat. I could see her determination.

"You doing alright?" Dan asked her.

"I'm having a baby," said Kat. "I don't know what alright is." She laughed.

"Good point," said Dan. "I think we're going to head out. No one needs to see what's about to go down here."

Both Kat and I laughed this time, but Kat started to contract again, and she squeezed my hands. "Good luck," Dan said as he and the others walked out.

I heard their cars roar to life, and Kat's contraction eased. "You know," she said. "I love you. A lot."

I smiled at her too. "I love you a lot too. " I leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the head. I put my hand on her belly, and leaned down to kiss that too. "Are you coming out?" I asked the baby.

"Oh yes," said Kat. "He, or she, can't get out of there fast enough."

Kat leaned forward and put her lips on mine, and I felt the bump that had separated us for the last six months. I kissed her back, but we were cut off as another contraction hit her. She fell into my arms this time, and I rocked her as the contraction peaked and fell. I stroked her hair, and kissed her head.

"Come on," she said. "Let's get walking."

We started walking around the house, and considering how pregnant she was, we got around pretty quickly. The next contraction really nailed her. She fell into me, and put her head face down on my shoulder. She groaned, and I held onto her for all I was worth. I wanted to take her pain away. I wanted to do this for her. She shouldn't have to deal with all of the pain, while I got nothing.

"I'm so sorry Kat," I said.

She smiled at me. "Well it's certainly not your fault," she said. "Don't worry about it." She took a deep breath, steeling herself. "This is what women were made to do. Make all the jokes you want about us in the kitchen, but this is really what our job is. Our bodies are designed for this, and our brains are designed to take it. I'm going to be fine, and when this is over, we'll have either our Melanie or our Zander."

"I think you're really brave," I told her.

"Nah," she said. "I'm just doing what I have to do."

Another contraction came, and as it was dying, I heard feet pounding on the ground. Kat let out a relieved noise as she let go of me. "They're here," she said.

I heard them talking and laughing on the front steps, and went to open the door for them. "Good evening," said Carlisle as he stepped into the house. "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year," I said back. "You're soaked," I noted, taking in their appearances.

"We ran here," said Edward. "And slid around everywhere. It was fun."

I laughed. "Well, we've just been having a party here."

I heard Kat wince and groan from where she was in the kitchen, and I turned to walk back to her. "Maybe you've been having a party," I heard her say through clenched teeth.

We all came into the kitchen then. "Hello," said Carlisle. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm just peachy," said Kat, and I could hear how tired she sounded. It was nearing eleven o'clock at this point. This was going to be a rough night.

"Glad to hear it," said Carlisle, not even reacting to her sarcasm. "We should get you checked to see how far along you are," he noted.

"I'm in," said Kat. "Where do you want to do this?"

"It's up to you," Carlisle said.

Kat and I looked at each other. "The bedroom I suppose," said Kat.

"Lead the way," said Bella.

Kat had another contraction literally at the top of the stairs. This one lasted a while, but the only noise she made was a gasp. She held onto my shoulder like it was a lifeline, but I didn't mind the pain. If she could have a baby come out of her, I could handle a little bruising that would heal quickly.

"Wow," said Bella as the contraction eased. "You're really trucking through this Kat. I'm impressed."

Kat laughed breathlessly, slowly moving into the bedroom. "I'm going to break Zeke if we keep going at this rate."

I laughed. "It's fine."

Once in the bedroom, Carlisle told Kat to go ahead and lay down on the bed. Bella and I stacked pillows behind her head so she could still breathe. I sat down next to her. "Okay Kat," said Carlisle. "Basically what I'm going to do here is check how dilated your cervix is. It's going to hurt a little, but I swear I'm fast."

"Okay," Kat said quietly.

I took Kat's hands in mine, and she met my eyes while Carlisle checked her. I could see the pain in them, but she was strong. She didn't make a sound, just squeezed my hands.

"Wow," said Carlisle and Edward at the same time. I figured that Edward was wowing at whatever Carlisle had been thinking about.

"Why wow?" asked Kat breathlessly as another contraction came. She held onto my hands, and arched her back as the contraction rocked her whole body. She groaned, and for a second I thought she was going to scream. She bit her lip and blew all of her air out in a rush. The contraction went on and on, but Kat just kept taking deep breaths and moaning. She kept her head about the situation if I do say so myself. I was impressed, and so proud.

Carlisle and Edward both laughed, looking at each other as the contraction eased. "Because you're already over nine centimeters," said Carlisle. "You have less than a centimeter to go, and you're just lying there like you just went into labor. By the way you were acting, I would have guessed you were only five or six centimeters dilated. You're really tough."

Kat smiled, still catching her breath. "You bet I am," she said.

"I'm comfortable with you getting ready to push actually," said Carlisle. "I'm just going to get my gloves on."

Kat writhed again as another contraction came. She yelled a little, but mostly just squeezed the life out of my hands. I tried talking to her, letting her know how proud I was of her. I told her how well she was doing, and how it was really almost over. She was crying, but nodded her head as the contraction finished.

"This hurts," she said.

"You're doing so well," said Bella, wiping the tears off Kat's cheeks. "You aren't fighting it at all. I've been a nurse for almost twenty years and I've never seen anyone handle contractions so… calmly."

Kat scoffed. "In my mind, there isn't anything calm about this."

"You curse like a drunken sailor up there," Edward said, tapping his head.

"Sometimes it comes out of my mouth," Kat said. "That's how you know we're really having fun."

Carlisle laughed. "This is great," he said. "I wish all of our labors and deliveries were like this." He clapped his hands together. "Alright," said Carlisle. "This should feel pretty natural to you, but what you're going to do is spread your legs apart, pull them back and up, and bare down. We'll help push your feet back if you need the help, but you're looking pretty strong to me." I slid under and behind Kat so that she was sitting in between my legs. After reading some books about child birth, we had decided this would be how Kat pushed. That way I could still hold her, and she could hold my hands. Carlisle checked his watch as Kat pulled her feet back and up. I could see her eyes, and she looked scared, but determined.

"Two minutes to midnight," Carlisle said. "When you feel the next contraction Kat, go ahead and push."

Kat nodded. "Alright child," she said. "You've had your fun. Now exit my uterus." Everyone burst into laughter, and I saw her small smile. "Here we go…" she said.

I felt Kat tense in my arms, and I put my hands in hers. She squeezed them, gasping for air.

"Good Kat," said Carlisle. "Keep going."

Kat arched her back and pushed again. Bella brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Good job," said Kat. I saw Edward watching Kat's cervix, and his eyebrows furrowed. I brought my eyes back to Kat, hoping everything was okay. She was drenched in sweat, and I used my arm to try and wipe some of it off her head.

"Well done," said Carlisle. "You're crowning Kat. On this next contraction, give me another good push."

The contraction came within the minute, and Kat pushed. She moaned and yelled a little. I gave her quiet encouragement in her ear, and kissed her forehead.

"Stop pushing," Carlisle said suddenly. "Blow out," he said quickly, and I got a little nervous. "Try to pant a little Kat."

Kat was crying, and I heard her sob as she tried to pant. Her knuckles were white, clenched around my hands. She screamed, and suddenly Carlisle was telling her to push. Edward was digging through Carlisle's bag at vampire speed, and Bella was holding a blanket out for Carlisle.

"It's a girl," said Carlisle calmly, but his voice wasn't ecstatic. I heard our little girl's first cries, and I looked to see her in Bella's arms. Carlisle was cutting the cord, and Bella was tying it off. I could see her little arm flailing, and Bella was quietly cooing at our brand new baby. I felt my eyes prickling, and I smiled, thinking I might cry.

I looked down at Kat, and she smiled. "Let me see her," she said quietly, and her voice sounded weak.

"Soon," said Carlisle. "But you had a tear Kat…"

I heard the worry in his voice, and I got scared. Our baby might as well have been nonexistent. All I could think about was Kat. I felt her hands loosening in my grip, and her body started going limp. Her eyes were closing, her smile sliding from her lips. My world was literally slipping through my fingertips.

Edward was next to me suddenly. "Come on Kat," he said. "Fight for it kid. Stay with us, open your eyes." Kat's eyes fluttered, but remained closed. "Unconscious," Edward said, and I felt like my heart was being ripped out. They were talking back and forth, but I couldn't hear them. I could only see Kat's limp form.

"Kat," I said, squeezing her limp hands. "Please, Kat…" Now I really was crying, and I couldn't stop it. This wasn't how it was supposed to end. Not for my Kat…

"Edward I want vitals," Carlisle said, sounding forceful.

Edward pushed his fingers onto Kat's neck, and I started praying for the second time in my life. I begged God to let her be okay. In those two seconds, I would have done anything to have Kat's pulse be good.

"It's decent," Edward said, and my heart soared. "Get her feet up."

"Two steps ahead of you kid," Carlisle was saying. I saw Carlisle lifting Kat's feet above her head.

"What happened?" I asked, still semi-pulling myself out of the fear-ridden waters Kat's unconsciousness had pushed me into.

"Her cervix tore," said Carlisle. "It was a second degree tear, so it went a little ways into her muscle. She lost a lot of blood very quickly, and her body couldn't stay conscious."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"Yes," said Carlisle. He looked over his shoulder at Bella. "How's the baby doing Bella?"

"Perfect," said Bella. "Nice and pinked up." She brought the baby over to the bed so I could see her.

She looked like an angel. Her little brown-skinned body was warm and soft looking wrapped in a pink blanket. She had a little bit of black hair on her head. She was the spitting image of Kat, even after just being born. I thanked God that she didn't look like the man who had fathered her, and I felt the tears on my cheeks again.

"She looks just like Kat," I said.

"I think so too," said Bella.

I felt Kat begin to wiggle in my arms, and she groaned. "_Ow_…." She said as her eyes opened. Suddenly she was wide awake. "Zeke," she said, looking at me. "What happened to her?"

"She's right here," Bella said, holding the baby close to Kat. I put my arms under Kat's weak ones, and Bella laid our daughter in them.

Kat looked at her and cooed. "Oh my gosh," she said. "She looks just like me…" I could hear that she was crying even though I was looking at our little girl.

"What's this little princess's name?" asked Carlisle.

"Melanie," Kat and I said at the same time.

"That's perfect," said Bella. She chuckled. "She was born at 12:01 am. Happy New Year everyone."

Kat and I laughed. "No one will ever forget her birthday," Kat said. She smiled, and looked at me. "You hold her," she said. "She's yours too."

I chuckled. "Yeah, but I didn't have to work as hard for her." Kat slowly slid the little bundle into my arms, and I was scared to death that I was going to drop her. But as soon as she was in my arms, it was as natural as breathing. I laughed a little. "She's so tiny…"

"She really is," said Kat. She looked up at Bella. "Did Alexis have her baby?"

Edward was already on the phone, and Bella pointed at him. I heard Edward talking quietly, and then laughed as he hung up. "Yes," he said. "Born at 12:01 am, just like Melanie. A little boy named Jace. Apparently Alexis was hilarious. Abbey could barely catch him because she was laughing so hard."

Bella and Carlisle laughed. "For some reason," Bella said. "I have no problems believing that."

"Yep," said Edward. "I guess she was swearing and stuff, and she almost broke Brandon's hand."

Kat and I laughed, but I was still entranced by my little girl. I held her to me, and kissed her forehead before giving her back to Kat. "Well," said Bella. "Since its New Year's Eve and they'll all be awake, I suppose we should call up your brothers."

"I'll do it," I said. I stood up and ruffled Kat's hair as I walked past her and out into the hallway. I pulled out my new cell phone, and hit speed dial number two. Dan answered on the first ring.

"Hello?" he said.

"A girl," I told him. "Melanie."

"It's a girl!" Dan called, and I heard all the boys hooting and hollering. "Did everything go alright?" Dan asked.

"Kat tore a bit, and passed out, but she woke up after the stitches went in. She'll be just fine."

"Congratulations," Dan said, and I could hear the happiness in his voice.

"Are you guys going to come on back and meet her?"

"Definitely," said Dan. "Get in the car," I heard him call. "Or I'm leaving without you."

About ten minutes later, I heard tires on the driveway, and Bella went to get the door. I heard them greeting her, and soon there were footsteps on the stairs. Dan stopped at the doorway, the others behind him. Melanie was in my arms at that time, and I held her up to them.

"Oh my gosh," Dan said quietly. He walked into the room, and the other boys filed around the bed. "She's gorgeous Zeke…. She looks just like you Kat."

"Thank you," we both said at the same time.

"Do you want to hold her?" Kat asked Dan.

"If you'll let me," said Dan.

"Of course," Kat said.

I stood up with Melanie in my arms, and gently shifted her into Dan's. "Wow," he said. "She's so small…"

Suddenly, I realized that now was the moment I had been waiting for. Everyone we loved was in this room, our little baby was here, and I couldn't think of a reason to wait. Stepping away from Dan, I slid onto one knee.

Kat looked at me, confused for a second, but then I pulled out the ring. Her eyes got wide and her mouth fell open.

"Kat," I said. "I know that we're doing this kind of backwards, but I wouldn't have it any other way." I smiled at her. "Would you do me the honor of marrying me?"

Kat laughed. "Of course," she said, and I heard the raw emotion in her voice. I sat back on the bed and pulled her into my arms as our brothers clapped and yelled. I slid the ring onto Kat's finger, and gave her a kiss. All of the clapping woke Melanie up, and Dan was unsuccessfully trying to rock her back to sleep. I laughed at his attempts, and took her back from him. She was a feisty little girl, crying and flailing her arms, but at least she would be a fighter. I got her back to sleep, and I was glad that this part of being a daddy came easily to me.

Our little girl got passed around from hand to hand, being adored by all of her new uncles. She was perfect, sleeping through the whole thing. Dan put out the word that tomorrow, if the roads got cleared, everyone was invited over here for lunch. Everyone wanted to meet the new babies. Carlisle checked Kat's stitches after the boys went to their respective rooms, and then told her to get some sleep.

I placed Melanie in the bassinette we had set up just a week previous, and made sure she was still and breathing before I laid down in bed. Kat scooted close to me, and I felt her whole body against mine. Her breasts were rounder now, and her stomach a bit more pronounced, but she was beautiful. I held her closer than I had in months, and we both drifted off to sleep.

Our sleep didn't last long. It was only a few hours before Mel was up and crying. I woke before Kat did, and I hopped out of bed, hoping to shush her before she woke up Kat. I slid her so-small little body into my arms, and the warmth of my body quieted her, but she didn't give up her fight. I rocked her in my arms for a while, shushing her, but to no avail. Her cries grew louder, and I heard Kat sit up with a wince.

I turned to her. "Are you okay?" I asked over Melanie's cries.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm just really sore… and those stitches hurt quite a bit." She looked down at herself, and I noticed that she was wet.

"Are you hot?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, actually I think my milk came in." She looked at Melanie. "Maybe she's hungry? I could try to nurse her."

"You can do that?"

"I think so," she said. I brought Melanie to her, and she pulled up her shirt. I saw that her breasts looked even fuller and rounder than before the baby was born. I slid Melanie into her arms, and watched. It took Mel a second to latch on, but once she figured out where her food was coming from, she put her mouth right on Kat's nipple. She had a good suck and swallow method I saw, and I smiled. "Could you put my pillow under her?" Kat asked me quietly. The room felt silent now that Melanie was content.

I did as she asked, and then slid behind her, wrapping my legs around her the way I did when she was giving birth. I put my hands under Kat's so I was holding both her and Melanie. "How does it feel?" I asked her.

Kat laughed a little breathlessly. "It's beautiful," she said. "I feel so attached to her already…"she laughed again. "Although it does kind of hurt my boobs and stuff."

I put my hand on the other breast and rubbed it like I had when she was pregnant. "You're doing great though."

"It feels very natural to me," Kat said. "More so than I thought it would."

I kissed her cheek. "You're going to be a fantastic mother. You already are."

Melanie was so small, she didn't eat much. She fell asleep while nursing, and by holding her close, Kat kept her asleep long enough to get her back in the bassinette. We both climbed back into bed, and slept until well-past nine o'clock the next morning. At that point, it was the boys downstairs that woke us up, not Melanie. I rolled over to face Kat, the same way I had been doing every morning for eight months. Things were a little different now.

"Good morning," I whispered.

"Good morning," she whispered back.

"How are you feeling?"

"Sore," she said. "And the stitches really suck."

"I'm sorry," I said, cupping her face in my hands. I gently placed a kiss on her forehead, then on her nose, then on her lips."

"It's not your fault," she said. She smiled. "You ready to get up?"

"Sure," I said. "I've got patrol in the middle of the night tonight."

Her eyes got wide. "That means adventures in single parenting for me!"

I laughed. "Good luck."

I got out of bed, and glanced at Mel's sleeping form in her bassinette. She hadn't moved one inch. I turned back to Kat on the bed. She went to sit up and fell back into the pillows. "Help me up," she said.

I came around to her side of the bed and slowly sat her up. "Wow," she said. "This sucks."

"You can do it," I said.

It took Kat a while to get herself dressed and her hair brushed. She was moving very slowly. Melanie was still sound asleep when she finished getting ready. "Do you want to bring her downstairs for breakfast?" Kat asked me.

"Sure," I said.

"This is assuming I can get down those stairs."

"I have faith in you," I told her. "I watched you give birth. I'm pretty sure you can make it down a flight of stairs."

"You're about to be disappointed."

It took her a while, but she made it down the stairs eventually. The other guys were still eating.

"Hey, you made it!" Justin said.

"It was awful," Kat said. She took a seat at the table. "I'm not moving anytime soon."

"That's alright," I told her. She held her arms out for Melanie, and I slid her into her arms. I turned to get her some breakfast, as well as breakfast for myself. I was starved.

"So," Dan said. "You guys are getting married."

Kat and I both laughed. "I guess we are," Kat said. "I forgot."

"She's a good distraction," I said, jerking my thumb at Melanie.

"She is," said Kat, smiling at her little creation.

"Did she wake up last night?" Robert asked.

"Heck yeah she did," I said. "We didn't wake you up?"

"No," Robert said, looking a little confused.

"We were having adventures in breastfeeding," Kat said. "It was super fun."

"Sounds like it," Robert said.

Somehow, Kat managed to eat her breakfast while Melanie lay across her lap. I was personally impressed. Melanie did eventually wake up, but she seemed content to be cooed at and held. Kat left her with me while she trudged back upstairs to our room. Kat was sorting out Melanie's things, and organizing what she could. We were receiving another pile of hand-me-downs for Melanie from our always generous family when they came over in a couple of hours.

I held Melanie for a while, and the other guys were all very interested. They had spent plenty of time with their nieces and nephews, but they had never actually had a baby who lived here. Melanie was really good though. She didn't start crying until she was hungry again. I tried to rock her back to sleep, hoping not to disturb Kat. She would have her for two hours by herself tonight, and I didn't want to miss a minute I had with this precious little baby.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

I heard Kat move slowly out of our room. "Is she hungry again?" she called from the top of the stairs.

"Likely," I said. "She ate at three."

"Definitely," Kat said. "Can you bring her up here?"

"Sure thing," I said.

"I'm going to tackle this breast pump situation before everyone gets here today. It's going to be another adventure. She's going to need to eat, and if we're being honest, I feel like my boobs are going to explode, so it's a win-win situation. Plus, you can feed her then if you want."

"Of course I want," I said as I reached the top of the stairs.

Kat really had gotten a lot done in our room in the hour she had been up here. We had been given a lot of things for Melanie; things that we would need no matter her gender. The bassinette had been used for Ashley's kid last. The breast pump was someone's. We'd received a plethora of bottles, formula carriers, a diaper bag, and a whole bunch of other things I never thought I'd need. They were getting no use otherwise, so I didn't feel too guilty taking them, just extremely grateful.

Kat mastered the breast pump like it was nobody's business. She hooked it up to herself and went at it. She filled a few bottles for Melanie so I could feed her when she wasn't there. The room was a lot more clean and organized by the time our first family members were arriving. It was perfect timing. I helped Kat get back downstairs. She was looking like she was pretty tired, but was all smiles as I got her settled in on the couch with Melanie, who was sound asleep again.

Our family seemed to all arrive at once. Alexis and Brandon were last, but only by about a minute. Everyone was just as excited to see them as they were to see us. Jace was a handsome little boy if I did say so myself. He had blue eyes like Alexis, but Brandon's strong features. Actually, he looked a lot like Sam, his paternal grandfather. Alexis was super sore as well, but she took a seat next to Kat on the couch. They held their little babies up to each other, and someone took a picture. Both were smiling and happy. I was sitting next to Brandon.

"So how was your night?" I asked him.

Brandon laughed. "A little loud," he said. "But it settled down after midnight."

"That sounds about right," I said. "She was awake in the middle of the night though."

"Yeah that happened to us too," Brandon said. "It was an adventure."

"You could say that," I said. "We managed not to wake the whole house up though."

"We are the whole house," Brandon said.

"Good point," I noted.

"How's your hand?" Brandon asked me.

"Not broken," I said. "But it was bruised last night. So was my shoulder."

Brandon held out his hand to me, and I could still see the bruises. Even his fast healing hadn't healed them. "They were swollen last night," he said. He gave me a strange look. "Your shoulder?"

"Yeah," Kat said. "Like you know," she put her hand on my shoulder like she did last night. "I just kind of grabbed on here and held on for dear life."

Brandon laughed. "I get it now." He looked at Melanie. "Aw she's beautiful you guys," Brandon said. "Gorgeous."

"Thank you," Kat and I said at the same time.

"She looks just like you," he told Kat.

Before lunch was ready, the babies were passed around. Nick and Zemati had to keep reminding Marah to be gentle with her new cousin. She was extremely fascinated with her new baby cousin. Grant, not yet a year old, could care less about Jace, though Jenny and Liam were thrilled to have a nephew. Once the food was ready, everyone kind of broke off into smaller groups.

Dan and Jacob were talking a lot, and eventually I figured out that they were making plans for us. Apparently, a few years ago when the Cullen's still lived in town, they had created a work out for the wolves that had apparently been killer. It had helped them a lot though. They ran faster to keep up with the Cullen's, and tried to match what they were lifting. It ultimately worked out really well, and the Cullen's had had a ton of fun with it. They could have asked the Dapoli vampires to do the same thing, but we had never been as close to them as we had the Cullens, and they were all pretty busy anyway. The Cullens were back though, here for Christmas vacation, and they were plenty willing to do it again if we were willing. Apparently Nessie, Eila, and Zemati were going to come if Zemati could find a babysitter. Leah volunteered to watch Marah, and then went on to volunteer to watch Jace and Melanie if we wanted.

"You don't have to do that," Kat said. "I can stay back if it's too much trouble."

"Please," said Leah. "She's a newborn baby, and we're already going to have Jace and Marah. She won't be any trouble at all."

"I'm coming over with Grant," Emily said.

"Yes," said Leah. "Let the grandbaby sharing begin."

"I'm going to out grandma you," Emily said jokingly.

"False," Leah said. "I'm the maternal grandmother; doesn't that mean I'm the favorite?"

"Watch yourself, that'll be me next time," Emily said.

"Point taken," Leah said. "But anyway," she patted Kat on the shoulder. "We can watch her without a problem. I know you don't live near your parents, and we'll all just kind of fill in that hole as best we can."

Kat scoffed. "She's never going anywhere near my parents," she said. "Or Alturas. Or basically out of my line of sight."

Leah laughed. "It eases up a bit," she said. "But not much."

"Hey guess what?" Kristen said just loud enough to get most everyone's attention. We all looked at her. "I'm pregnant," she said.

"It's true," David said immediately following her.

"With twins," Kristen said.

"Oh my gosh," Rachel said. "Paul, our daughter is pregnant."

"Got 'em," he said.

"Wait seriously?" Jared asked, elbowing David.

"Yes father, I'm going to be a father."

"Holy shit," Jared said, putting and arm around his son. "How long have you guys known?"

"Two days," Abbey said. "They were in denial. I made her have an ultrasound."

"Also true," Kristen said.

"More babies!" Nick said with a fist pump. "All for one."

"Exactly my thoughts," Liam said.

"Kelsey, Joshua, you're about to become aunt and uncle," Kim said.

"For real?" Joshua said, looking at Kristen, and I saw her smile at her little brother.

"For real," Kim said.

"Oh no," Kelsey said. "David's going to be a father."

"Thanks for the confidence sis," David said.

"I'm only in shock a lot," Jenny said. "Definitely didn't see that one coming."

"Good luck," Kat said with a pointed look at Kristen.

"I say we make a rule no swearing in the delivery room," Abbey said.

"No," Alexis said immediately.

"Why what happened?" David asked.

"Alexis has a way of swearing so prophetically that I almost dropped Jace as he was coming out because I was laughing so hard," Abbey said.

"It's true, I must admit," Brandon said. "She was breaking my hands and I was laughing."

"It's a gift," Alexis said. "How about you Kat?" she asked.

"Oh she was funny enough," Edward said. I had forgotten that the vampires were even here, shrouded by the smell of the wolves all around them. "She said, and I quote 'Alright child, you've had your fun, now exit my uterus.'"

Everyone burst into laughter. "I'm making a sign that says that for my office," Abbey said. "That's the best thing ever."

Kat smirked.

Everyone hung around for a while, but went home around two o'clock. We were going to meet around nine am tomorrow for that work out. I was feeling like I'd likely want to sleep for an eternity afterward, especially since I had the twelve am to two am shift tonight. Yet, I knew that there were things to be done. I had to go back to work, and raise a daughter. That thought actually made me happy. Kat had called her manager at the diner, and he said to take as much time as she needed off. He was very happy for her, and said he'd spread the word.

That night, Kat and I were both in bed at eight o'clock, and sound asleep. Melanie was still sleeping for most of her life, so she was out when we hit the hay. I woke up feeling a bit more rested at midnight when I had to head out. Kat slept right through my alarm, but I kissed both her and Mel before heading out for patrol. I was with Corey, and I met him in the kitchen. He was a great guy.

"You holding up?" he asked me before we shifted.

I chuckled. "Sure," I said. "Let's go."

The shift was quiet, but I liked this shift. I missed out on sleeping, but I got back early enough to get some more sleep before having to get up. I saw Cade and Brandon below us, running the wide wolf patrol route. It took them longer on ground, but they were still fast. When I got back up to our room, Kat was just putting Melanie back to bed.

"She ate," Kat said. "My boobs have been freed. We can go back to sleep now."

I laughed. "Okay baby," I said. "Come here."

I opened my arms for her as we climbed into bed. "I missed you," I said, kissing her head. "And her. It was the first two hours I've been away from her."

"I'm not looking forward to it," Kat said. "But it's coming in a few hours." She leaned up and kissed my lips in that gentle way she had about her. I swore she was the softest creature in the world. "We're getting married," she said.

"I know," I told her.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you too."

The alarm went off too early the next morning, but we both hauled ourselves out of bed at eight am. Melanie was still sound asleep, so we left her while we were getting ready. It only took us a minute. We were about to go sweat a ton, so it's not like we had to look that great. It was cold out, a frigid twenty-two degrees, but we wouldn't even feel it. Kat got Melanie all bundled up, and she woke up. She cooed at us with her big, wide eyes that were blue but turning darker every moment. She was so beautiful, just like her mother.

While Kat finished getting Melanie ready, and fed again, I went downstairs to get some bottles packed up. Kat had pumped again this morning, so Melanie would be all set for as long as she was with Leah and Emily.

"Good morning," Landon said as I came around the corner.

"Good morning," I said. I walked to the fridge and considered how many bottles Melanie would need. I grabbed the first two, and put them in the bag. "Yeah," I said. "I definitely have no idea what I'm doing."

"That's alright," Dan said as he came around the corner. "Just make it up."

"That is my ultimate plan." Kat came down the stairs then, Melanie in tow. "Are you still sore?" I asked her.

"Not like yesterday," she said. "It's really just the stitches that are getting me right now, and they aren't so bad."

"Don't push yourself too hard today," I said.

"My plan is when they start running, to run away in the other direction."

"That could work," I said. "You are really fast."

"How do you know?"

"I saw you running from that drunk guy at your house one time. You ran right past my window."

"You know," Kat said. "I'm feeling like a lot of that was adrenaline."

"Still," I said. "You were booking it."

"Eh," she said. "I had a baby thirty-six hours ago. I wouldn't be expecting too much."

"True," I said.

We ate breakfast, and Melanie even woke up for a few minutes. She lay across my legs staring at me with her wide eyes, and made little baby sounds. It was probably one of the most precious moments I'd had with her since her birth. After breakfast, we decided to run (in human form) over to Jacob's house where we were all meeting. Leah lived right across the street from him, so we would be able to drop Melanie off.

"Can you run while holding her?" Kat asked me.

"Sure," I said. "But I'll definitely be going slower."

"Make sure you really press her to you," Kat said. "She could get sick if the wind gets in her ears."

"Right," I said. I looked at this fragile little bundle of blankets in my arms, and knew that I would be going _much_ slower.

"You set to go?" Dan asked us.

"Sure," we both said at the same time.

Once outside, the other guys started running right away, and Kat and I went to follow them.

"Holy Christ," Kat said as soon as she started running.

"Sore?" I asked.

"That doesn't do the word justice," she said.

I winced, truly feeling her pain. "I'm really sorry."

"I'll make it," she said. "You go ahead I'll be there soon. I need to work on letting her get out of my sight anyway." She nodded at Melanie.

"If you say so," I said. I was only going a bit faster than Kat, but soon I was well ahead of her. It was awkward running while holding Melanie to me, but she was cradled into my arms, pressed against my chest. I could feel her little heartbeat against my own, and thought of the nights I had listened to it through Kat's stomach. If that was nice, this was bliss.

The guys beat us to Jacob's by about three minutes, but Leah's youngest three were just walking over when we got there. Kat came up behind me just a little bit later. "You made it," I said.

"Barely," she said. She reached for Melanie, and I slid her into her arms. "Let's do this," she said with a nod. I handed her the diaper bag that was slung over my shoulder.

"Do you want me to come with you?" I asked.

"I've got it," she said.

She came back a few minutes later with Melanie gone. "I didn't cry," she said. "I just freaked out a lot."

"Yeah?" I said.

"It was dramatic," she nodded. "But I did it."

Just then, I heard the unmistakable sound of pounding vampire feet. The Cullen's were standing next to us in the next minute. "You ready to go?" Edward asked, taking in our numbers.

We all made sounds of semi-agreement, and then we took off. We were _really_ moving. I loved it though. Even sweating and out of breath in this frigid air, I loved it. I noticed that Kat and Alexis managed to stay ahead of Eila, but Zemati and Nessie were destroying them. In fact, Nessie was catching up to me. She was fast like her father, who was currently trying to get Jacob to keep up with him. Jake was in the lead by a lot, but Dan wasn't far behind. In a close third was Liam, with Nick on his heels. Adam and Ricky were right behind them. Brandon, David, Joshua, Marcus, Me, Cole, Landon, Scott, and Alex were all volleying to keep up with the group ahead of us, but Bella was chasing us, making us go faster. Brian, Robert, Corey, Cade, Jenny, and Justin were right behind her and getting closer all the time. Cade was young, but the alpha wolf gene made him taller and stronger. Kristin and Ryan weren't far behind them, with Allison, Kelsey, Madison, Evan, and Tyler right behind them. Paige, Elizabeth and Anna were just a few feet behind them, followed by Kat, Alexis, and Eila. Esme was running with them, and though they were slow, I could tell they were being pushed.

After running for what must have been at least thirty miles, we circled back to the house, but stayed within the woods. We started doing pull-ups, and we only stopped after about two hundred of them. We held planks for five minutes on each side. Eila was working her tail off to keep up with us, but she didn't quit. She had the alpha gene in her too, even if she didn't have the wolf gene. After the last plank, they told us to take a break before we went on to the next thing. Kat was laying on the ground, under the trees where she had finished her planks.

"How you holding up?" I asked her.

She picked her face up, and I saw that she was covered in mud. "I'm freaking great!" she said.

"Really?"

"No," she said. "I feel like I'm being ripped apart at my vagina."

"The good news is, the stitches haven't torn yet!" Edward said.

"How do you know you sadist?" she yelled at him.

"Because I smell no blood and you would bleed like no other," Edward said.

"That's gruesome," she said.

"It is," Edward noted. "And true. So don't rip the stitches."

"Pardon me while I remind my vagina to hold itself together," said Kat.

"You're pardoned," Edward said.

"I'm not going to make it," she said.

"You went through labor and delivery in two hours, I think you can make it."

"It's funny, because I'm still convinced I can't."

I laughed at them. Alexis was looking pretty worse for wear, but she hadn't had any stiches put in. She was still lying on the ground, looking like she could almost be asleep. Brandon was patting her back, but I could see that they were both laughing as well.

After what seemed like only a moment, we were back at it. We did two or three hundred pushups, a least five hundred sit ups, and then we worked on agility. By using some fallen branches and massive rocks, they created a kind of obstacle course for us. It was hard, with a lot of jumping and holding on, and then climbing, but we got through it.

"You guys want to try it blindfolded with your wrists tied together?" Edward asked, and then laughed. I couldn't tell if he was joking.

"Why not?" Jacob said.

Edward laughed. "I was only semi-serious."

"No really, we need more bonding anyway," Jacob said.

"It's not bonding if we kill each other," Bryce said.

"You aren't going to kill each other," Edward said. "I vote that if your imprint is here that has to be your partner."

"We're screwed," Eila said, patting Bryce on the arm. "I barely got over that rock."

"Yes," Bryce said. "We're screwed."

I looked at Kat. She looked like she had been through half of hell, but she smiled at me anyway. "Let's do it," she said.

The eagles paired up, and Cade, since Marah wasn't here, got paired with Connor Cullen. He was almost taller than Connor, but they were joking around with each other about it. We were blindfolded first, and then my wrist was tied to Kat's. They told us to try and go as fast as we had before we were tied up, but I knew there was no way of that happening.

Kat and I totally ate shit about a minute after we started the course because we tripped over a branch we had forgotten about. I tasted blood, but she was laughing. The cut in my tongue healed even before we were moving again. When we got to the rocks, we faced the problem of Kat not being able to jump as high as me, so we fell a few times, but got over all of the small ones. The last big one at the end was a monster. I ended up holding onto Kat and doing a jump similar to how a high jumper jumps over the bar. Apparently, the ones who went before us and had there blindfolds off said it was pretty impressive. I managed to flip us around in the air and land us on our feet, but it was rough.

Eila and Bryce almost couldn't get over the last rock, but they ended up climbing it by digging into the cracks with their strong hands. Jacob and Nessie destroyed the course. They beat everyone else's time by about a minute, and moved like they were one in the same person. They knew exactly where every rock and branch was, and never even stumbled. They didn't speak, just got it done. They were the last to go, and we all applauded when they finished.

"You know, for an old married couple, we've still got it," Nessie said, punching Jacob in the arm.

"I think that's why we've still got it," Jacob said.

"Good point," Nessie agreed.

"Kat, we've got nothing," I said.

"It's true," she said. "We're hopeless."

"Eh," Nessie said. "We still can't balance our checkbook."

Everyone laughed at that. "Really?" Alexis asked.

"For real," Nessie said. "Eila has to help us."

"It's true," Eila said. "Neither of them can do it at all."

"We keep our money in a cookie jar, and in multiple secret stashes around the house," Dan said. "I'm pretty sure that's the definition of immaturity."

Everyone laughed again, and Kat leaned her head on my arm. We had made it through that workout, but I had the feeling that it wouldn't even compare to the next few weeks we would have with Melanie. Raising a baby was the hardest thing I had ever done, and she was only two days old. Jacob and Nessie invited everyone over for dinner that night. It would be a crowded house, but they said all were welcome who cared to come. I knew we would all definitely be there. I had a short shift at the library at two, but it ended at six.

We picked up Melanie from Leah, and apparently she had been angelic. She had taken to the bottle like a pro, and hadn't fussed at all. Our daughter was perfect, and I was grateful.

We all took turns in the showers once we got home. Kat snuck one in between two of the guys, and I kept an eye on Melanie. We grabbed something to eat for lunch, and then I was off to work. My coworkers, who all happened to be middle-aged females, were excited to see all the pictures of Melanie I had taken on my phone. They appropriately 'awed' at them, and the work was pretty slow. I had a lot of orders to fill, but it made the time pass quickly. I got home in time to ride over with everyone else. It had apparently taken all ten of the guys plus Kat to get the car seat into the car appropriately. It was a complete spectacle apparently, but Kat was just getting Melanie strapped in when I flew up. My coworkers thought I caught a ride a little bit away from the library, but I tended to usually fly in.

"Well," Kat said as we drove over to La Push. "That was harder than I expected."

"Sorry I wasn't here to help," I said.

"It's alright," Kat said. "I brought in the back up, and it took them a while, but we conquered it eventually."

"It was some serious teamwork," Landon added from his shotgun seat. Dan was driving.

"It was good for us," Dan said. "So when do you two want to be doing this wedding thing?"

Kat laughed. "We haven't even talked about it," she said. "What do you think Zeke?"

"I'm feeling when it's warmer," I said. "So it can be appropriately outdoors."

"I agree," Kat said. "And we can save a little money up too."

"True," I said.

"You guys should get a house," Dan said.

"Kat," I said. "We're being kicked out."

"_No_," Dan said. "I just thought you might want one."

"Well sure we do," Kat said. "I'm just not so sure on how we would finance that."

"The tribe could get you a cheap one on the reservation. It's small and needs work but I already looked into it if it's what you want."

"What's that mortgage bill like?" I asked.

"It doesn't exist," Dan said. "Some of the houses deep in the woods are so old and rundown that if you fix it up, it's yours."

"Then I suppose we should be asking how much it would cost to fix it up," Kat said.

"A bit," said Dan. "But we have our connections. For example, we could all work on it and be your crew. Zemati's mom and aunt do a renovation business. I'm sure they have money saving tips, and would be able to help out a lot. Liam and Jenny did this about two years ago, and we all pitched in where we could, and got it all done." He flipped on his turn signal as we changed lanes. "We're a family," he added.

"Well," I said. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to look into it." I nodded my head, thinking. "And we make enough to buy food and stuff for ourselves at least," I added.

"Definitely," Kat added. "And yesterday Leah told me that they are looking for a secretary at the school, and I have all the skills for it."

"We'd need to find a babysitter then," I added.

Kat laughed. "Leah volunteered, but I'd like to be able to pay her a little something for it."

"You'd be able to if you got that job," Dan noted.

"Then I'll apply tomorrow," Kat said.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

At that point, we were at the Black's home, and though a lot of people had braved the cold and walked, there were still about a dozen cars on the street. Dan demonstrated his fantastic parallel parking skills, and we were appropriately impressed. Melanie even woke up and started crying for him. It was great. Kat had to feed her right when we got in the house, and the place was packed. People were folded into corners all over the house, and everywhere we turned there was another family member. Dan and I talked to Jacob about getting us the house Dan had looked at, and he told us it wouldn't even be a problem. Nessie knew of a teacher at work who was getting new furniture, and she told her anyone who wanted the old stuff could have it. Kat and I were definitely interested.

"See," Dan said as Nessie went back to cooking dinner. "When you have this big of a family, somebody always knows how to help."

"I love it," Kat said. "I never even had a family before this."

"I'd be overwhelmed," Adam said as he walked past us.

"Eh," Kat said. "We figured it out."

We spent the night talking to everyone, and Melanie was awesome. Her younger cousins showed some more curiosity in her, and the older ones did too. Other people had more ideas for how to get us into that house Dan had found. Apparently, it was right by Nick and Zemati's and Liam and Jenny's houses. They had considered making it theirs, but had decided on ones a little closer to the beach. Kat and I didn't care, a house at all would be fantastic. Melanie deserved a house, and a normal life as much as possible.

We were at Nessie's until about eight o'clock, and after we went home, we were all sitting around talking in the living room. Kat was leaned up against my arm, her head on my shoulder. "You know," she said, looking up at me. "I'm really glad I have you."

I laughed. "Well I'm glad I have you too."

"No seriously," she said. "I'd be really screwed without you."

"Nah," I said. "You'd be just fine."

"Nope," she said. "Nope."

The others were kind of quiet. "You guys are really lucky you know," Ricky said. "To have each other and all."

I nodded. "We really are."

"Think about it," Scott said. "Some of us have been eagles for over a decade and haven't imprinted on anyone."

I shook my head. "I guess it's just luck of the draw…"

Kat shook her head. "I guess whatever force is controlling this madness has other plans for you. Maybe you weren't supposed to reproduce."

Dan laughed. "I don't know, for all of these new wolves, it happened immediately, so they don't even know. Some of the guys from the original wolf pack get it though. They were wolves without being imprinted for five or six years for some of them. Leah certainly understands being lonely… Embry too. They were both single for a long time."

"Have you ever thought about dating?" Kat asked.

They all shook their heads no at the same time. "It's not worth it," Ricky said. He then went on to tell us about what had happened with Sam and Leah back when they were kids, and I was shocked. I had never thought about how imprinting might be so wicked, and harmful.

"I think I have more respect for Leah than anyone in the world right now," Kat said. "I can't even imagine." She clicked her tongue. "No wonder she's so tough."

"She hasn't shifted in four years and she still scares the crap out of me," Justin said.

We all laughed. "I'm sorry," I said after it had quieted down.

"What for?" Landon asked.

"I don't know. You guys deserve to not be lonely."

Brian shrugged. "If it's meant to be, it'll be," he said.

I nodded. "I suppose," I said. "But that doesn't mean you should have to be lonely."

"It's not that bad," Justin said.

"Speak for yourself," Robert said. "All I ever want is sex."

Everyone burst into laughter at that. "I've been there," Kat said. "And I sympathize with you buddy."

"Do you think there's someone out there for you?" I asked all of them.

"We have to," Scott said. "If we didn't, we'd be miserable."

"It may take a while to find them," Corey said. "But there's someone for all of us. I believe that."

"That's really great," Kat said. "For your sake, I hope that you find that someone sooner rather than later."

I slept like a rock that night. According to Kat, I didn't even wake up when she had to feed Melanie. Apparently, I didn't even move. The next morning was Kat's first patrol since giving birth, and I got some time alone with my little Mel. She was awesome. When Kat got back, Dan drove us over to La Push to show us the house he was thinking of. It needed some work, but was a good size. I could totally picture Kat and I living in it. Amari, Zemati's mother, actually met us over there to give us some tips. She told us she was caught up in a few projects at work, but it would settle down in a few weeks and she would voluntarily help us out. We thanked her, and headed back home for lunch.

The next few months I spent making wedding plans, house plans, and most importantly, being a father to Melanie. She was so much more alert now than she was when she was first born. She smiled and laughed, and even made little baby noises. She started eating food besides breast milk, and loved getting a bath. She started sleeping through the night on most nights, but woke up every now and then still. She could lay on her stomach and hold her head up, and adored all of her uncles. Kat ended up getting that job as a secretary. Since I only worked part time and Kat was now full time, I would watch Melanie when I could, and if I had work or patrol, Leah watched her. We paid Leah a little each week, but she was honestly okay with nothing at all. We were very blessed to have her, and all of our family.

The house was coming along. Amari knew _everyone_ in the business. She found the best deals for us, and helped out all the time. I worked on the house every day, and Kat seemed to work on the wedding just as much. It was going to be a backyard ceremony, with just our family present. My sisters were flying up for it, but would only be there for a little while. They were excited to see me though, and meet Kat and Melanie. They knew about what had happened to Kat, and were just as angry as I was about it. They were also very excited to see Dan.

One night when Melanie was about four months old, I had patrol with Dan at eight o'clock. I put Melanie down for the night, and headed out with Dan into the pouring rain. It was April in Washington, and the rain hadn't let up for over a week. I didn't mind it though. I missed the California heat, but the life I had traded for the weather was worth it. Once we were in the air, I saw that Jacob had a few extra running patrol tonight. Apparently, he was worried about hikers getting lost out in the rain, and so extra patrollers helped. They had helped out their fair share of confused hikers in the last few years, so I'm sure Jacob was just going off of experience.

Dan and I just rambled on about a whole lot of nothing. He asked me about the wedding, the house, Melanie, my job, Kat's job, just about anything. The Cullens had just arrived in tonight. Though they were all in college currently, it was their spring break, and they had taken the opportunity to come on down. I hadn't seen them yet, but they had only just gotten here about an hour ago. We tried to pick out who was below us, and we made the collective decision that it was Jacob, Bryce, Cade, and Nick down below us. As I was flying over a spot in the woods about a mile south of Jacob's house, I saw something strange. Actually, it was about ten strange things. They looked like bears, but with less fur, and more muscle. They were massive, about the size of the wolves.

_What the hell are those….?_ Dan thought.

_I was sure hoping you were going to tell me…_ I thought.

Cade was running up on them, and a feeling in my gut told me something was wrong even before he got there. He didn't even see them coming. He almost ran into one of them, and skidded to a halt in the middle of them. I heard the panic in Dan's thoughts, and proceeded to have one second to panic right before all hell broke loose.

I heard a noise come from one of the bears that was probably the most terrifying sound I have ever heard, and then they descended on Cade.

Dan reacted before I did, letting out two loud caws that anyone who could hear would respond to. Dan swooped down towards Cade, thinking, _Stay above them Zeke, distract them, go for their eyes._

It was second nature to me once I reached them. The bears were so much larger than I expected, and one of them scratched my wing as I went for it's face. I winced, but I figured it would heal. Nick and Bryce were there then, and the bears were divided. Jacob came in with a roar so terrifying I almost cowered back, but the bears kept fighting. Cade was a heap on the ground, and I feared the worst. I heard the pounding feet of the wolves as I used my beak to rip a chunk out of one of the bears, and the other eagles were arriving as it happened.

I don't know what sign the bears were given, but suddenly they were backing away. There were only two left, and there were half-humans all around me. Some changing back from birds, others from eagles. The last two bears melded back into the woods, but they were the least of our problems. There were groups of half-dressed people crowded around four others on the ground, and I didn't want to see who had been hurt.

Nick and Bryce were right next to each other, black and blue all over, and bleeding like crazy. It looked like their skin had been shredded, and I was only slightly relieved to see their eyes open and their chests going up and down. Jenny, Jacob's fourth in command (behind Bryce and Nick) was calmly and effectively giving orders to transport them to Jacob's house. She was loud, but focused. Lying not far from them was Jacob. He was only partially conscious, a large knot on the side of his head. He had gashes all over his body as well, and it looked like some broken ribs. His right leg was tore open to the bone, and swelling.

If Jacob was bad, Cade was worse. His lanky body was tore open all over, and so black and blue from bruises I could hardly recognize him. His stomach was absolutely shredded, all the way to the muscle. His face had massive gashes on it from what was clearly bear claws. His arms were limp at his side, and I saw the blood escaping from them too.

My stomach clenched, and I forced myself not to go into shock. The others were moving the boys back to the house, and I needed to help. The Cullens had shown up about a minute ago, and Bella fell to her knees at Cade's head. She braced his neck so we could move him back to the house, and I helped lift him with my brothers. The girls were running back to the house with Jenny in wolf form, hoping to beat them there so Nessie and Eila would be slightly prepared.

We had to move slowly, and Cade was yelling and moaning the whole way there. The mile only took us about ten minutes, but it was agony for him. He was so young for this; too young for this.

The lights were all on at the house, the others had beat us there. It was chaos inside.

"Take him to his room," I heard Dan say from somewhere in front of me, falling into his role as head of the flock.

We deposited him gently onto the floor in his room, and suddenly Edward was in there with us, handing out orders. I stepped out of the way, and back into the hallway. I heard Andrea giving directions from Eila's room about Bryce and Nick's injuries, and heard Jacob yell as Carlisle re-broke one of his bones. Carlisle was speaking so swiftly I could barely keep up, but when Esme emerged from the room, she looked like she knew what to do.

I moved into the living room, where Nessie was with Eila. Nessie was holding Eila to her so hard I thought she might be hurting her, but neither of them was saying a word. Tears were streaming down their faces in torrents, and the scene broke my heart.

"Deep breath Eila," Julia was saying, trying to comfort them. "They're going to be okay."

"You too Ness," Rosalie said. "Just hang on tight."

I heard Edward call to someone to grab some towels, and I stepped up. I went to what could only be a linen closet, and grabbed two dark blue towels. I jogged the two steps into Cade's room, and fell on the floor by Edward, where he was stitching rapidly up Cade's arms.

"Zeke," he said calmly. "Wrap that around his leg closely, but not so tightly it will hurt him." He gave the same direction to Allison who was standing behind me. We each did as he suggested, and I felt the warm blood seeping into the towel. The smell was sickening, but I kept it together by watching Bella with her grandson.

She was holding ice on a rapidly swelling knot on his head, and Corey kept bringing her a new bag to switch it out with. Cade's hot body melted it very quickly. "I'm so proud of you Cade," she was saying softly, calmly. "If you were a boy before, you're a man now. That was so brave of you, just keep hanging in there. Your grandfather here is stitching you up as fast as he can go, and you'll be getting better before you know it."

"Marah," he said weakly, his words distorted by his swollen jaw. "Where is she." It was a demand, not a question.

"With Zemati," said Bella. "She's just fine. Your mother is a wreck, hell, I'm a wreck, but Marah is just fine."

"I'll be alright," Cade mumbled, and Bella let out a short laugh.

"You are your father's son," she said.

Edward stitched up the leg that Allison was applying pressure to first, and then moved to the leg I was applying pressure to. I left the room then, trying to stay out of his way. Jenny was in the kitchen, surrounded by the youngest of the wolf pack. She was directing them to go home in pairs, and to wait for further instruction. The house cleared out a lot then, and I saw Allison, Ryan, Cole, and Paige holding hands as they walked home. They lived across the street from each other, and kitty corner to Jacob. This was a family, through the good times and the bad.

Nessie was sitting on the couch, her head in her hands. Alice was stroking her hair, but not saying anything to her. Eila had retreated to the window seat in the living room, and was curled into a ball in the corner of it. Julia was holding her hand, and Andrea emerged from Eila's room.

"Eila," she said, and Eila looked up with a tear-streaked face. "You can go in there, but he's weak. He won't stop asking for you, but give him a chance to recover." She turned to look at Jenny in the kitchen. "I need you to get Zemati over here. He needs her."

"Done," Jenny said, pulling out her cell phone.

Eila stood up and walked calmly into her room. I heard Bryce tell her hello, but then nothing else. The door to Jacob's room opened, and Carlisle emerged. "Monitor his CAB's," he told Andrea, and swiftly walked across the hall into Cade's room.

Brian was leaning against the wall with me, and he punched my arm. "You hanging in there?" he asked me. "Because you are bleeding all over the place."

I looked down at my arm in surprise. I hadn't noticed that the scratch from the bear hadn't healed. That was strange. I looked up and Brian in surprise, but he was already answering my question. "It's because they were like us," he said. "Those bears turn into humans. At least, that's the best explanation I have for it." Back when the eagles had first arrived here, they had figured out that if an eagle hurt a wolf or vice versa, the rapid healing powers didn't work. No one knew why. I could not wrap my head around the fact that those bears were humans, that was too much for tonight. I pushed the thought aside as Bella came out of Cade's room.

She immediately looked at Nessie, who finally lifted her head. Nessie stood up and fell into her mother's arms, visibly crying. "I know Ness," Bella said, and I could tell that she was crying too. "But they're going to make it, baby. They're both alright, just healing."

"That's my baby in there," Nessie said hoarsely, pointing at Cade's room. "He's just a little boy."

"Yes," said Bella. "They're all just children. But tonight they were adults, and he did his duty."

She pulled back from Nessie and turned to look at me. "Whoa there buddy," she said, walking over to me. "You need a few stitches in that thing."

"I didn't even notice it…" I said, suddenly feeling a little light-headed.

"Feeling a little dizzy?" Bella asked me as she led me to a kitchen chair.

"A bit," I admitted.

"Take deep breaths," she told me. "You could have told us you were bleeding to death…"

"Zeke has a habit of not caring enough about himself," Dan told her as she started to stich my arm up.

"Hm," Bella said. "I know some men just like that. One of them is stitching my grandson up, and I've been married to him for twenty years. The other is my son-in law, and my best friend."

Dan laughed. "Well you sure can pick them Bella," he said.

Bella gave a dry laugh. "Cade's just like them," she said. "Both of them."

"He looks like Edward," I added.

"A bit," said Bella. "Nessie looks like Edward. But the older Cade gets, the more I see the little boy that used to be Jacob Black. It's a bit disorienting actually."

"I can imagine it would be," I commented. She was stitching pretty rapidly, and I quickly lost count of how many she was putting in.

"Fourteen stitches," she said. "And you didn't even tell us."

"I didn't even remember that it happened," I added.

"Amazing," Bella said.

Andrea stepped out of Jacob and Nessie's room. "Nessie," she said, and I saw that her clothes were stained with blood. "Why don't you come in here. He won't lay still until I let you in anyways."

Nessie walked in her bedroom, and I saw her take a seat on the bed as I walked back into the living room. "Cade," Jacob whispered.

"He's with my dad and Carlisle," Nessie said, and I could hear her fighting back her tears.

"So he's bad," Jacob said.

Nessie let out a sob. "I don't know," she said. "They won't let me see him."

Jacob put his hand on Nessie's. "Nessie I'm so sorry…" he said.

"Sh," she said, stroking his hair. "It's not your fault."

"I couldn't help him Ness," he said, and I could hear the tears in his voice. I couldn't imagine not being able to help Melanie if someone was hurting her.

"I know Jacob," she said. "He _has _to be okay…"

"He'll be alright," Bella said from a few feet outside of the door. "He just needed a lot of stitches. He's been very brave."

"That's my boy," Jacob said.

"You bet he is," Bella said. "He won't shut up about Marah."

Nessie and Jacob laughed quietly. "He can't be that bad then I suppose," Jacob said.

"No," Bella said. "Just in need of some TLC." I heard Cade groan from the other room, and Nessie sucked in a breath. "And stitches," she said. "But he's trooping."

"Clearly," Jacob said.

I heard a car door slam and a rapid heartbeat. Zemati burst in through the front door, a sleeping Marah on her shoulder.

"Here," Rosalie said, taking Marah into her arms. Zemati willingly handed her off. "He's right in there." She pointed towards Eila's room. Zemati looked completely frenzied, but walked calmly into Eila's room.

"Oh hi," I heard Nick say quietly. "Fancy meeting you here."

Zemati fell at his side. "Nick," she said, and I could tell she was holding back tears. He grabbed for her hand and she held on with both of hers. "Don't ever make me get a call like that again," she said.

"I'll do my best," he said. "But I'm fine."

She let out a disbelieving noise. "Clearly, you are not."

"A lot better than Cade or Jacob," Nick said.

"Fine," Zemati said. She was quiet for a while, and all I could hear was the pouring rain outside. "About how long ago did this happen?"

"Maybe an hour ago?" Nick said.

Zemati scoffed. "Marah woke up screaming her head off about then. I mean, she was crying like I've never heard her cry before. She kept saying Cade's name, and then yours, but she does that all the time. She only knows like five words, and those are two of them. I didn't think anything of it."

"I guess she knew something was wrong," Nick said. "Kind of freaky."

"That's how I was when I was younger," Eila said, her voice sounding very small.

"Yeah?" Nick said

"Yeah," Eila said. "When Bryce got shot, I was just a little older than Marah is, and I screamed my head off until they brought me to him."

"It's true," Bryce said

"Well, at least she's normal," Zemati commented.

"If I'm your status for normal, we've got a lot more problems," Eila said, and all four of them laughed.

I turned my eyes back to Marah who was sound asleep on Rosalie's shoulder. She probably didn't even react to the change in temperature or smell. It was normal to her. She stirred, and her little eyes flickered open. She pulled her head up and crocodile tears welled up and poured out of her eyes. "Mommy," she said in a tiny voice.

"She's just in the other room, it'll be okay," Rosalie said, stroking her short hair.

"Cade," she said then, and started crying. "Cade," she said again.

"He's going to be alright Mar," Rosalie said. "Everything will be okay."

She was still crying, but she violently threw herself against Rosalie's shoulder. Rosalie held her close, shushing her. She was crying hard though. Nessie and Jacob's house phone rang then, and Jasper, who was sitting in the kitchen with some of the other Cullens, answered it.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hi," Kat's voice said. She sounded awful. "I don't remember who you are, but this is Kat, is Zeke there?"

"It's Jasper and yes," he said. "He's here."

I was already walking into the kitchen, and Jasper handed me the phone. "What's wrong?" I asked immediately.

She let out a sigh of relief. "I thought you were dead!" she said.

"I feel like you would know if I was dead," I said calmly. "Why did you think that?"

"I don't know!" she said. "I heard the howls and the screeching, and this weird growling noise, and no one has told me anything!"

I quickly caught her up on what had happened. She sat in stunned silence when I finished telling her. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked me.

"I'm fine," I said. "I had to get fourteen stitches in my arm, but I'm fine."

"_Fourteen stitches_?" she said loudly.

"But I'm fine," I added.

"Oh my god," Kat said. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," I added. "How's Mel?"

"Sleeping like a rock," Kat said. "This house is empty with all of you gone."

"We'll be back soon," I said.

"Okay," she said. "I'll let you go then. I love you."

"I love you too," I said, hanging up.

Edward came out of Cade's room as I walked back into the living room. He grabbed my arm and looked at my stitches as he walked past. "You destroyed those things Bella," he said. "Way to go."

He touched the back of Marah's head. She had reduced her cries to sniffles on Rosalie's shoulder. "Come here sweetie," he said. "Let's go see Cade. He's freaking out."

At the sound of Cade's name, Marah sat up, and reached for Edward. Edward swung her up into his arms, and carried her into Cade's bedroom. The door was open, and Carlisle had his hand on Cade's face. "His fever is going down," he said. "Nessie!" he called. "You can come in if you want."

Nessie came out of her room slowly. She slid into Cade's room, and sat down by his side. She put her hand on his, and he held on. "Hey," she said to him. "How're you hanging in there kid?"

"I'm alright," he said. "Better without the fever," he said.

"Why did he have a fever?" Nessie asked, pulling a squirming Marah into her lap. Marah put her little hand on top of Cade's, which Nessie was holding, and Cade stuck out his pinkie finger for her. She grabbed on to it tightly.

"His body was reacting to the trauma," Carlisle said. "Not un-normal when someone has to get over a hundred stitches."

I heard both Cade and Nessie wince. "Over a hundred?" Cade said. "Jeez."

"You were a trooper," Edward said. "I'm very proud of you."

"It was pretty impressive," Carlisle asked. "You even remained conscious."

"I feel like I got run over by a tank," Cade said. "And my brain is foggy."

"You have a mild concussion," Carlisle said. "And you're bruised all over."

"The stitches make my skin feel like it's stretched tight," Cade said.

"Then they're doing their job," Carlisle said. "How's your stomach?"

"The worst," Cade said.

"Well," Carlisle said. "About fifty of the stitches are in there. You aren't going to be sitting up for at least a couple of days."

"It feels like it will be a couple of years," Cade said, and I could hear the smirk in his tone.

Edward laughed. "Well," he said. "It will likely be a little sooner than that."

Marah crawled out of Nessie's lap and stretched her tiny body out next to Cade. She started snoring softly a minute later. "Wow," Nessie said. "I guess our conversation was boring her."

"I'm glad she's here," Cade said. "I never thought I would be comforted by the presence of a toddler."

"Love makes a man do some things he's not proud of," Edward said.

"I wouldn't think about it too much," Nessie added.

"That's my method," Cade said. He sounded tired.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

I turned to my brothers in the kitchen. The Cullens had remained stoic and calm throughout this entire process, and now was no exception. "I think we should go home," Dan said. "It's late, and I think they've got everything under control here."

"Thank you for your help," Andrea said, standing up.

"Thank you," Dan said. "You totally destroyed it. Pre-med my ass, you're totally a doctor."

Andrea laughed. "I'm ballsy," she said. "And that is all."

"That's all you need," Adam said. "Ever."

"She's got a lot of nerve," Zach added, smiling at Andrea. He looked at her like I looked at Kat. "I'm only like a lot proud."

"Be a lot proud," Dan said. "She deserves it."

"_Guys_," Andrea said, drawing out the word. "Stop."

We chose to stay in human form for our run home, sticking close together. The rain was half a monsoon, but it felt good washing all the blood and mud off of us. Just as we were walking in the back door, something stopped me in my tracks. I heard the undeniable sound of bare feet slapping the muddy ground. The pace was slow, but much too fast for a human.

"Dan," I said, and he was already walking back out the door.

"I hear," he said. "Just wait."

For the longest minute of my life, I stood outside our back door with my brothers. Kat was at the door, ready to run out and help. I put myself between her and whoever was coming. The footsteps stopped, and my strong eyes searched through the rain and dark for whoever it was out there.

I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't the small young woman that slowly eased herself out of the woods. She was in a ripped up, holey t-shirt, and shorts that were soaking wet and muddy. She was filthy, and looked like she hadn't showered in a year. She looked terrified, and a little crazed.

"What are you?" she asked, and her voice sounded hoarse, like she hadn't used it in a while. Her eyes were scanning all of us quickly, and she looked like she was about to run. Her eyes paused on Dan, and she suddenly fell to the ground.

"Holy shit," Landon said, moving toward her. We all followed, even Kat. Melanie would be fine for a moment.

"Relax," Dan said as we got to her, and he fell to his knees. His voice sounded different. "I just imprinted on her."

"Fuck," Justin said. "What is she?"

"I'm going to assume she is a human that turns into one of those bears that we saw tonight," Dan said. He sounded like he was in shock. "And apparently, she imprinted on me too." While he was talking, he had pulled her head into his lap, and tilted her head back so her airway was open. He was kind of smiling at her.

"Ari?" a small voice called from behind us. I turned to look behind me, and saw a small group of girls half hiding behind the trees. They were standing close together, their clothes filthy and tattered. They had long, tangled, dirty hair, and were covered in mud. The rain was still absolutely pouring.

Even after all I had seen in the last year of my life, this moment is still number one on my list of weird things. At approximately the same time, every one of those girls hit the ground hard. They passed out, _cold_. Kat let out a startled scream, and I couldn't help but agree with her feeling.

"What the _fuck_," I said. "Did you all just imprint on these things?"

"I did," Landon said. "Without a doubt."

The others gave their concurrence, and I put my hands on my hips. Now what was I supposed to do?

I turned to look at Kat. She shrugged, her eyes wide, reading my mind. "Well then," I said, deciding what our next move should be. "Let's get them inside."

I turned and walked back into the house, Kat jogging in a few steps in front of me. She dashed upstairs to linen closet, and came back down with some sheets. She spread them out over the carpet in the living room, and I helped her. The boys stumbled in, each carrying a girl. They laid them down on the sheets, and sat there, right next to them. Kat and I stared at each other, and I knew I could relate to how they were feeling.

"Well," Kat said eventually. "They smell like woods." The silence that followed was strong, and pensive.

"I didn't think it was like this," Dan said after a moment. "Never. Not after hearing this feeling described a million times, I didn't think it would be like this. I feel like I'm linked to her so completely I couldn't change it if I wanted to. Which I don't…"

"It's like you're connected by a steel bar," I said, giving him words.

"And if it breaks I'll die," Dan said. "It's terrifying."

"Exactly," I said.

"Wait until you actually know their names. Or anything about them for that matter," Kat said. "It gets a lot stronger."

"She's hurt," Justin said, and for such an outgoing boy, his voice was soft, and scared.

I looked at where he was staring. Her leg was sliced open by what looked like claws.

"She is too," Ricky said, and the girl he was with had a bite taken out of her leg. I cringed when I realized I had done that.

"They're not deep," I said. I went to the kitchen and grabbed two towels, throwing one to each of them. "Just cover them and apply pressure."

Suddenly, Ari started to stir. Dan pulled his hand away from her head, and her eyes flew open. The next few minutes were a little hectic as the girls started to wake up, but eventually, the boys got their story out, and the girls sat and listened. They looked confused, but not scared. They trusted the boys; every particle in their beings told them to. When Dan finished explaining to them who we were and what had happened, all of the girls looked at Ari. I noted that they were looking at her the same way we looked at Dan, and the way all of the wolves looked at Jacob. Actually, everyone looked at Jacob that way. Some people were just born to lead I guess.

"Well," Ari said after a moment. "Your story is not much different than ours." She blinked. "We are Kootenai Native Americans, from Flathead, Montana." She shook her head. "But we haven't been back there for over ten years…. Our families abandoned us when we first shifted. It was pretty dramatic, I almost killed my older brother. I was the first one…" Ari said. "But the other's followed within a year. There are no boys. We aren't positive of why, but over the years we've come up with the idea that we descend from our first female chief. There are legends of her leaving to protect the tribe, and though they never actually mention anything about a bear, we've inferred it." She sighed. "We've shifted back twice in the last ten years, but otherwise, we just wander. We hunt, we sleep, we run. We've been all over, but never here." She was surprisingly calm. "I've never seen anything like you…. And you terrified us." She shook her head again. "I don't know who it was we attacked, but know that it was because we felt threatened. It was defensive, not offensive. This is our lifestyle. Or was…" she looked at Dan. "I can't ever leave you." She looked away from him. "Sorry, that was creepy."

"It's alright," Dan said. "I think we can all relate."

Ari smiled, and I could see how beautiful she was. Nothing compared to my Kat, but pretty none the less. "Girls," she said, turning away from Dan again. "I don't know what's going on, but I think we're going to be okay."

"You're going to be happy," Ricky said. "I'm going to make you happy." He was staring at a still unnamed girl.

"You sure are," I said, and it seemed like the girls had just realized I was there. "What are your names?" I asked the other girls.

"I'm Scarlette," the girl sitting next to Adam said. She looked about twenty, with long eyelashes and pointed features. He smiled at the sound of her name.

"Ava," said a short girl with a quiet voice. Her hand was grasping Ricky's for dear life. She was small, but her eyes held wisdom.

"I'm Valerie," said a lanky girl with a few freckles on her cheeks. She was side by side with Landon.

"I'm Evelyn," said the girl next to Scott. She held her head up, and looked proud. She was a little terrifying, but her voice was gentle.

"I'm Zoey," said a girl with a high pitched voice. Her eyes were a caramel color, light for a Native American. She was staring at Alex.

"Lilah," said a girl who must have been even shorter than Ava. Her voice was louder though, and her expression bright. She smiled at Brian, and he smiled back.

"I'm Hannah," said a girl sitting next to Robert, and her voice reminded me of a teacher's. She was shining from the inside out.

"Nia," said a younger looking girl. Her features were less defined, but she must have been about seventeen when she changed. She was small but strong, like Paige. She was staring at Corey.

"I'm Cambria," said the girl who was with Justin. "But you can call me Cami."

"Alright then," I said. "Now that we have some names, I'm Zeke, and this is Kat." I pointed at Kat, and she grabbed my hand. Right on cue, Melanie woke up from her dreamland and started crying. "And that," I said. "Is our daughter Melanie."

"Oh my…" said Hannah. "How old?"

"Four months," Kat said with a smile.

"Precious," Hannah said. She smiled a little. "I had a niece that age right before I shifted. I guess she'd be ten now though."

Kat smiled brightly at her. "You can meet her in the morning if you want." She looked around the room. "But it looks like you guys have a lot to talk about, and we've got a screaming baby to deal with. We bid you adieu until morning, and wish you luck." I let Kat pull me up the stairs a little ways, but she stopped suddenly and turned back around. "And no one get pregnant!" she added, and then we continued up the stairs. The silence below us was awkward, but that's the way we liked it.

Kat fed Melanie while I wiped the mud off my legs from that night, and we both fell into bed at the same time. I pulled her close, and we listened to the quiet chatter downstairs. "I didn't see this one coming," I whispered.

Kat scoffed. "No one did," she said. "But it's three am, I'm exhausted, and Mel will be awake in about five hours if we're lucky. Let's give them the night to sort themselves out, and we'll call over to Jacob's in the morning to let him know what happened."

"Good plan," I said, kissing her nose. "I love you."

"I love you too."

It turns out that we weren't so lucky, and Melanie was up and cooing in her crib by seven the next morning. I woke up before Kat, and I grabbed Melanie and headed downstairs so Kat could get a little more sleep. I heard silence from downstairs, and when I got to the living room, I saw that everyone had stayed pretty much where they were from the night previous. The girls were still on the sheets that Kat had laid out, and the boys next to them. Dan and Ari were holding hands in their sleep, and I smiled. I turned Melanie so she was on my shoulder, and she rested her head there. I kissed her as I walked her into the kitchen, and she cooed at me.

"That's my girl," I said as I rocked her. Her little body fit perfectly into the crook of my arm, and her head into the base of my neck. "I love you," I whispered to her.

I heard stirring in the other room as I warmed up Melanie's morning bottle. I sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, and laid Mel across my legs. She fussed because she couldn't see around her anymore, but quieted as soon as the bottle was in between her lips. "There," I said. "Now what's all that crying for?"

She worked hard on her bottle, and I heard someone get up from the living room. Lilah was cautiously peeking around the corner to kitchen. "Good morning," I said quietly. "Lilah right?"

She nodded. "And you're Zeke." She took one step closer to us. "Is that your daughter?"

"Yep," I said. "This is our little Melanie."

Lilah smiled. "I forgot how small babies are." She was still standing awkwardly by the doorway.

"Do you want to hold her?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "Oh no," she said. "I might drop her."

"Eh," I said. "She's survived for four months with those nuts in there," I jerked my thumb toward the living room. "You can't do too much harm." I put the images of Cade from the night previous out of my mind, recognizing that things were different now.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Positive," I said. "Just take a seat."

She pulled out the chair next to me and sat down, staring at Melanie. I pulled Melanie up into the crook of my arm, and held the bottle with my other hand. I gently shifted her into Lilah's arms, and Mel didn't even react. Lilah looked terrified, but she was doing fine. "There," I said. "You're doing fine!"

"She's so small," Lilah said.

"She's twice the size she was when she was born," I commented.

She smiled at Melanie who was still sucking furiously on her bottle. "My dad used to call me his loud little Lilah."

I chuckled. "Are you normally loud?" I asked.

She didn't say anything for a moment. "Well," she said. "I hadn't spoken for about five years until last night. And before that, it was another five years ago."

"Wow," I said.

"But yes," she said. "Before I changed I was pretty loud."

Brian poked his head around the corner of the kitchen. "Good morning," he said.

"Good morning," Lilah and I said.

"Is Zeke already putting you to work?" Brian asked her.

She chuckled. "Oh no," she said. "I wanted to."

"She's doing great," I said. I heard a creak in the stairs, and the next moment Kat was in the kitchen with us.

"Hello," she said. She looked at Melanie in Lilah's arms. "Well," she said. "You look like a natural."

"I have no idea what I'm doing," Lilah said.

"Exactly," Kat and I said at the same time, and then smiled at each other.

"We haven't known what we're doing for the last four months," Kat explained.

"Ah," Lilah said. "I can imagine."

"Do you want breakfast?" Brian asked Lilah.

"I'm fine," Lilah said.

Brian turned and looked at her. "Breakfast it is then." He opened up the refrigerator and started digging through it. "Do you like eggs?" he asked.

"I don't remember," Lilah said.

"Then," Brian said, not even sounding surprised. "We'll just have to try some." Brian pulled out the five cartons of the eggs we had and started cracking them into a bowl. "Scrambled for everyone?"

"Yes please," Kat said.

The others were slowly waking up and filtering into the kitchen. The girls kind of hung back a little, but food brings people together. Melanie was very curious about all the people in the kitchen this morning, and she spent the majority of it sitting on Dan's lap staring at everyone. The eggs Brian made were fantastic, and I definitely ate my fill.

"So," Dan said as we were all finishing up. "What do you think?"

Ari looked at him, and then at the other girls. "About what?" she asked.

"All of it," he answered.

"Well," Ari said. "From the two rooms I've seen, you have a very nice house…" she trailed off and laughed. "And a pretty weird life. But its stable, and you seem to spend most of your time as humans, so…. It's better than whatever we were doing."

"Does that mean you're going to stay with us?" Dan asked, and I could tell he sounded eager.

Ari laughed. "I can't speak for them," she said. "But I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

Ari looked at Scarlette. "Same," she said with a shrug. The other girls concurred as well.

"Then you'll stay," Dan said with a smile.

"Yes," Ari said. She looked happy, but a little nervous. "But we want to pull our weight around here."

"Definitely," Nia said, speaking up.

"You will," Dan said. "It will all come with time."

"Hey," I said. "Lilah already started. She fed the baby this morning."

Lilah laughed. "Right, because that was so much work."

"Its work I didn't do," I said.

"I'm so excited!" Justin said, jumping up and down where he was standing.

Everyone laughed, and we continued with our breakfast. "The good news is," Kat said as we were helping clean up. "There's a ton of clothes up in our closet that didn't fit me, and might fit some of you."

Valerie, who was standing next to us, looked down at her clothes. "Oh my gosh," she said. "I haven't worn clothes in a decade, but this is entirely not presentable. I'm sorry!"

Kat chuckled. "You're fine," she said. "I've looked a lot worse than that in this house."

"Still," Ava said quietly. "We're dirtying up your house."

"No worries," Kat said. "Which brings me to my second point: you guys can shower here if you want. If you use the bathroom I do, there's some flowery girl soap and lotion in there."

Ari laughed a little, sounding surprised. "It's been a decade since I've showered. Flowery girl soap is really exciting me right now."

Kat laughed. "It would excite me. I have at least ten disposable razors if you want to shave your legs."

"Holy shit I forgot that we were supposed to do that," Scarlette said.

"And your pits," Kat said. "Just in case you needed a reminder." The other girls laughed, and I smiled at my Kat. She handed me Melanie. "Come on upstairs," she said to the girls. "I feel like you're all about to get a lot more beautiful."

I heard the water turn on a little bit later. "Well," I said. "They're going to be up there for a while." I looked down at Melanie. "It's just you here to keep us in line. It's just you." I tickled her stomach, poking her nose, and she giggled. "That's daddy's good girl," I said, kissing her. "You get to hang out with all the boys."

Dan smiled at me. "That baby has been yours from the beginning," he said.

I nodded my head, giving him an eyebrow raise. "I decided that she would be, so she is."

Dan nodded, pensive. "I think I understand why you ran yourself ragged during Kat's pregnancy now."

I cocked an eyebrow at him and smirked. "I'll bet you do." I bounced Melanie in my arms and she gurgled.

"I feel like she is a very long way away from me right now," Robert said.

"That doesn't go away," I told him. "You just get a better head about it."

"Out of arm's reach is too far," Corey added.

"Exactly," I said. I put Melanie in the playpen we had in the living room, and gave her a toy. "We should call Jacob."

"Oh yeah," Dan said. "People exist outside of this house."

"Yes," I said. "And one of them is waking up with over a hundred stitches in him."

"Thanks for keeping it real," Dan said. "You guys, get in here, we're doing this together."

"Bossy," Adam commented.

"You'd better believe it," Dan said without hesitation. "It's in my makeup. Oldest child."

"I see," said Adam. "I'll be interested to see who is more stubborn, you or Ari. She seems like she's a lot like you."

"She is," Dan said with a smile. He had his phone out now and put it on speaker. It rang three times before Nessie answered.

"Hello?" she said.

"Nessie," Dan said. "You've got all of us. How are they?"

"Nick and Bryce actually just left. They are limping pretty heavily and will be in bed for a while, but they made it home."

"Glad to hear it," Dan said. "What about your guys?"

"They're trucking along," Nessie said. "Marah is still here, even though her parents left. If you've never seen a one-year-old sitting still, now is your chance."

"Yeah?" Dan asked.

"Yeah," Nessie said. "Cade's happier with her here anyway. His stiches hurt him pretty badly, but he says his head isn't nearly as awful as it was last night."

"That's good," Dan said. "And Jacob?"

"Well, his ribs are broken, so he'll be out of commission for a few days. He's pulling through though."

"You are surprisingly calm," Dan said.

"I'm pretty sure that's a compliment," Nessie said. "But it's because I didn't sleep last night. You have mistaken exhaustion for calmness. I've been freaking out every ten minutes."

"Okay," Dan said. "As long as that is cleared up. Do you think we could talk to Jacob?"

"Sure," Nessie said. I heard a slight shuffling noise.

"Hello," Jacob said, and his voice sounded gruff.

"You hanging in there chief?" Dan asked.

"Sure sure," Jacob said. "But Nessie really is freaking out every ten minutes. I've been trying to get her to lay down, but she won't. Thank god her family is here, they're working on her now."

"Leave her with Jasper," Adam said. "That'll knock her out."

"That's the goal," Jacob said.

"So," Dan said. "You will never guess what happened to us last night."


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

"Please tell me it does not involve alcohol or sex."

"Neither," Dan said. "But closer to the later."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jacob asked. "No one better be pregnant."

"Slow down," Dan said. "Back up. Then guess."

"I don't have the brain power, or the desire," Jacob said.

"That's alright, you'd never guess anyway. You know those things that attacked us? Well, they turn into a group of ten girls, and we all imprinted on each other."

"What the fuck," Jacob said, without even hesitating. "You imprinted on the things that put over a hundred stitches in my son?"

"Yes," Dan said. "But they were acting defensively."

Jacob let out a low whistle. "Well," he said. "Congratulations. I suppose we'll all learn to overlook this little incident now."

"Do you want to meet them?" Dan asked.

"Yes, Dan, my good friend, I would like to meet your soul mate."

"Today?" Dan asked.

"Why not," Jacob said. "How about later though. I would like to meet them sitting up, and I'm going to make sure that happens today."

"We could just come over tomorrow," Dan said.

"Nope," Jacob said. "Now I'm excited to meet them."

"You're sure?"

"Yes," Jacob said. "And I'm really happy for you guys. You deserve it. Everyone deserves it."

"Kat's cleaning them up now," Dan said.

"Perfect," Jacob said. "I still have some extra clothes that we keep here too if the clothes you have don't fit or something. "

"Thanks," Dan said. "Feel better buddy. We'll see you later."

"See you later," Jacob said, and he hung up with a click.

"Well," I said. "He seems like he's doing alright."

"Yeah, and Nessie sounds like a mess," Robert said.

"I would be," I admitted.

"At least her family is in town," Scott commented.

"Yeah we would have been in big trouble had they not been," Adam added.

"Can't Abbey stitch?" I asked.

"Not like those vampires can," Ricky said. "They're like machines."

"They've had a lot of practice I guess," I said. I stretched my shoulders, rolling them back. "So," I said, changing the subject. "How are you guys feeling?"

"In love."

"Like I never felt before this."

"Protective."

"Weird."

"Freaking great."

"Horny."

"Nervous."

"Empty, she's too far away."

"Brave."

"Drunk, and all of the above."

"Wow," I said. "Thank you for your honesty. That was great."

"Do you ever become more rational?" Adam asked me.

I laughed. "Well you tell me. Did I become more rational?"

"Sure," Ricky said. "You guys were like all awkward at first, and then you started functioning like one person."

"There you have it," I said. "You'll get there too. I mean, Kat and I knew a lot about each other before we imprinted. I watched her grow up, she watched me grow up. We had a common backstory, so we understood a lot about each other. You guys will be awkward for a while, probably longer than Kat and I were, but we didn't have time to be awkward. She was pregnant, and we had to get our shit together. Relationships have to be built, I mean, look at our imprinted family members. Do you think Sam and Emily were like they are now when Sam first imprinted on Emily? You would know more than I would. Were the girls like they are with their imprints now when it first happened?"

"I guess not," Justin said. "I just never really thought about it changing."

"Exactly," I said. "Kat and are a long way away from being completely not awkward with each other, and it's been almost a year, and I watched her have a baby! So that's saying something."

"Well you just put this whole thing in perspective," Dan said. "I feel a lot more normal now."

"Tada," I said. I looked over at Melanie in her play pen, and saw that she had fallen asleep for her morning nap. "And the baby fell asleep."

"You're just super dad today," Dan said.

"My rant put her right to sleep," I said.

"It's a gift," Brian said. "Use it."

About an hour later, the girls all came back downstairs. Melanie had just woken up, and was hungry. I turned to look as Kat led the way downstairs, and I was completely shocked at how much a shower could change someone's appearance. They were practically glowing. Their hair was way shinier, and it looked silky. They were in clean clothes, and I realized that they were all actually pretty attractive. Kat's beauty dimmed theirs for me, but I figured every man in this room was thinking something like that. "Wow," I said. "I bet you guys feel better."

They all laughed. "You could say that," Nia said.

"We even got the scissors out," Evelyn said. "We must have chopped off at least three feet of hair all together."

"And we got it all in the garbage," Kat added.

"I didn't know you could cut hair," I said to Kat.

"I can't," she said. "Ava can."

"No, I can't," Ava said. "But we were desperate, and they just needed a trim."

"I think you cut off about twenty pounds of hair, that's not a trim," Ari said. "And you totally nailed it."

"Doesn't Kristin do hair?" I asked.

"She's getting certified," Kat said. "She wants to open up a shop in town so people don't have to go to Port Angeles to get their hair cut. But she's seven months pregnant with twins, I'm feeling like she's not going to be opening up a shop anytime in the next few months."

"That's really awesome though," Ava said with her quiet voice. "I'd like to meet her, whoever she is."

"All in due time," Ricky said. "First, you guys have to meet Jacob."

They must have explained who all of these people were to the girls when they were up talking last night. "He has more extra clothes," I noted.

"Lovely," Kat said. "Because we no longer have extras. Everything fit somebody."

"We can get you guys your own clothes you know," Dan said, tugging on the hem of Ari's shirt. "We do have money."

"But that's your money," Ari said.

"What's mine is yours," Dan argued.

"We'll see," Ari said. "I managed to live ten years in the same clothes, I think I can survive for a few hours."

"Good point," Dan said.

"My boobs are going to explode, so I hope that baby is hungry," Kat said suddenly.

"Been holding that one in for a while have you?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "Give her here."

I handed Melanie to Kat and she smiled at her mommy. It was precious. "She's adorable," Zoey said.

"Thank you," Kat and I said at the same time.

"Is she good?" Cami asked.

"Oh yeah," I said. "Really good."

Kat had gotten pretty good at keeping herself covered while nursing, but she still used me to hide behind while she got Melanie adjusted. She had sat herself down on the couch, and I sat next to her.

"She eats a lot more now than when she was born," Kat said.

"Is that good?" Ari asked.

"It is," Kat said. "But my boobs are taking a beating."

"I can imagine," Ari asked. She cocked her head at us. "If you don't mind me asking," she said. "How old are you? Like literally, not how old did you stop aging at."

"Nineteen," Kat and I said at the same time.

"Oh," Ari said. "Well, you look pretty natural at it."

"Ha," Kat said. "I guess they didn't tell you how we got Melanie huh?"

Ari squinted her eyes at her. "No," she said. "I just assumed she was yours."

"She is," Kat said. "In most senses of the word. You see, Zeke and I come from a bad area in Alturas, and I was raped by someone living in my house. But I'm Melanie's mom, and for all intents and purposes, Zeke is her father."

"That's really awesome," Ari said. "That you're raising her." She nodded at me.

"You would do the same thing," I said. "If put in the situation yourself." I jerked my head at Dan, and she followed my gaze.

"Well yes," Ari said after a moment. "I suppose I would."

"And anyway," I said. "Who can resist this little girl?" I poked Melanie's little foot, and she squirmed.

"Ohp," Kat said. "Baby detached, we've got a live one."

Everyone laughed as Kat got Melanie resituated. "See," Kat said. "We just keep it really real."

"I can see that," Scarlette said. "I like it."

"I like you," Adam said.

"That was sweet," I said. "I'm going to barf."

"Thank you for that."

"Anytime."

We spent the day getting to know the girls a little more. A few more of them held Melanie. They were extremely behind on world news and such, and we caught them up on that. We decided to make a trip to the grocery store on our way to Jacob's. We bought things like toothbrushes, soap, and underwear. Just the things that couldn't wait until tomorrow. We all piled back into our separate vehicles, and made the short trip back over to Jacob's.

The house was a lot less chaotic than it had been the night previously. "Hello," Edward said when he opened the door, and I noticed the girls cringing at the smell. "Do you want dinner? I'm cooking."

"You're cooking at a house where only one occupant eats?"

"Yes," Edward said. "Or about to be anyway. I'm taking your answer as a yes mostly because I just want to cook."

"Fine by me," Ricky said.

"I'm Edward, by the way," Edward said. "You all look underfed and tired. I'll work on the first."

"Thank you?" Valerie said.

"Sure," Edward said as he walked back into the kitchen.

Eila came out of her room as we came in and immediately took Melanie from Kat. She brought her into the kitchen where the rest of her family was and I heard them all cooing at her. She would be fine in there.

Nessie was dozing on the couch when we came in, a book about music in her lap. She started as we walked into the room.

"Sorry," Dan said. "We didn't mean to wake you."

"No," she said. "It's fine, I totally forgot you guys were coming."

"Sorry," Dan said again. "We don't mean to impose."

"You're not," Nessie said. She stood up with a smile at the girls. "I'm Nessie," she said.

"You're beautiful," Evelyn said.

Nessie laughed. "Well thank you, the ten of you are something to look at as well."

"Thanks," the girls said. They introduced themselves, and Nessie introduced them to the rest of her family who were currently inhabiting her kitchen. They were all smiles, even though most of them were distracted by the cooking.

"How's Cade doing?" Justin asked.

"He's hanging in there," Nessie said. "He's been sleeping most of the day."

"Is Marah still in there?" I asked.

"Yep," Nessie said. "She hasn't made a sound all day. When we checked on her, she shushed us. It's been interesting." We laughed. "I think she fell asleep though, she was up in the middle of the night and all."

"That's sweet," Kat said. "She loves him."

"That's all a parent can ask for," Nessie said.

She knocked on her bedroom door as we got to it. "I am bringing people in this room, for the love of god, have your clothes on."

"Define clothes," Jacob said, taunting her.

Nessie whipped her head around the corner. "You're an idiot," she said.

"You love me."

"I'm gathering that."

"That's okay," Jacob said. "Now let these people in the room so I can meet them."

"_Fine_."

I led the way into the room, Kat behind me. For a La Push house, Jacob and Nessie had a decent sized bedroom. It had a bathroom attached to it, so it worked well for them. Jacob still looked pretty rough, but he had kept his word about sitting up. He had two pillows behind him and the newspaper spread across his legs. He smiled his perfect smile as we came in, and even through his stiches and bruises, it still lit up his whole face.

"Hi there," Jacob said.

"Oh my God," Ari said, taking in Jacob's appearance. "I'm so sorry."

Jacob laughed, and I noticed that he cringed a little. "No worries," he said. "I can relate. And you don't even know me." He looked around the room. "Holy cow," he said. "There are a lot of you. What are your names?" The girls went around the room and introduced themselves. "Okay," Jacob said. "I'm probably going to forget a name a few times, but I think I've got it." He ran a hand through his hair, and I saw more stitches going up his arm. "Anyway, I'm Jacob, and we have a ton of extra clothes in the bottom of our linen closet, and most of them are girl's clothes. You guys should check it out." He sniffed. "Apparently, my wonderful in-laws are cooking for you, but you're always welcome here. Like literally, always."

"That's very generous of you," Scarlette said.

"It's what we do," Jacob said. "You can go to any member of the pack's house and be welcome there. You just never know what you may run into while there." Everyone laughed.

"We'll leave you to rest more," Dan said. "You're looking a little worse for wear."

"I'm fine," Jacob said. "I've had worse days. Way worse days."

"Not that I've seen," Ricky said as we were leaving.

"That's because it was you who did it last time."

"Good point," Dan said. "Sorry about that."

"I'm over it," Jacob said. "Do me a favor and some of you go visit Cade. Watch out for his body guard though, she's feisty."

"We're on it," Landon said.

We decided not to all go into visit Cade at once, but to go in in pairs. Naturally, we went with our imprints. Kat and I went into the kitchen until it was our turn to go in.

"So," Alice asked as we walked in. "How are the wedding plans coming along?"

"Good," Kat said. "It's six weeks away, and things are coming together. It's going to be this big crazy family, and Zeke's sisters are flying up. That's it for the guest list though. Zemati is actually going to cater for us, and I think Selena is helping her."

"I want to help," Edward said.

"I'm sure she'd be grateful for it," I said.

Kat nodded. "We booked a DJ, and Kim and Rachel are doing the cake. The decorations are all hand-me-downs from other people's weddings as well."

Alice cocked her head at her. "I haven't heard anything about a dress."

Kat shrugged her shoulders. "I don't have much, so it'll probably be something pretty typical."

"I suggested we get married naked," I said. "That was voted no."

"Obviously," Alice said. "I volunteer to shop with you."

"Watch yourself, she's crazy," Bella said

"No," Kat said, nodding her head. "I could use the help. A little crazy never hurt anyone."

Alice rubbed her hands together maliciously. "This will be fun. I like challenges. Have you asked a maid of honor yet?"

"Not yet," Kat said, shaking her head. "I don't know who to pick." She laughed. "The girl I'm closest to is my daughter."

Alice laughed. "That could happen if you really wanted."

Kat gave her a quizzical look. "I don't think so. I'm probably going to ask Alexis actually."

"Also a good idea," Alice said. "And much more workable." She turned to me. "Have you asked anyone yet?"

"Yes, but I had an easier choice," I pointed out. "I picked my brother."

"Good point," Alice said. "Are you wearing tuxes?"

"They aren't," Kat said. "Coat and tie though."

"That works," Alice said.

I took Melanie when she started to fuss, and Kat and Alice talked wedding plans for a while longer. Mel curled herself into my shoulder and cuddled with me. She had been into that lately.

"She's sweet," Edward said as he stirred something. I still couldn't tell what it was they were making for us.

"Thanks," I said.

"They don't stay that way long you know."

"I've been told," I said. "Then again, yours stayed this way for a lot less long."

"It's true," Edward said. "She was born one day and the next she was walking."

"I can't imagine," I said. I kissed Melanie's little fuzz-covered head. "Any advice?"

"I don't know, I had it pretty easy. She never had bad years."

"That's good though," I commented.

"Yes," Edward said. He shrugged his shoulders. "Be who you want them to be. Set the best example you can at all times, in any situation."

"That's not half-bad advice," I said.

Edward smiled. "I can't believe I have teenaged grandchildren."

I smiled. "Isn't Cade about to finish seventh grade?"

"Yes he is," Edward said. "And Eila tenth." Edward's eyes got wide. "I met Bella when we were in eleventh grade."

"Holy crow," Bella said, picking up on our conversation. "Good thing we don't have to worry about that."

"Yeah, I like Bryce way more than I've ever liked Jacob."

"Fuck you," Jacob called from his bedroom.

"Right back at you kid."

"I'm a grown man."

"You're at least ninety years younger than me, you're still a kid."

"I'm ninety years younger than you," Bella said.

"So you're a very attractive kid."

"Gee thanks."

"Is this always how it is?" I asked.

"Yes," Edward said. "We're always this immature."

"Always have been," Nessie said. "Have you two ever gotten along?"

"This _is _getting along!" Edward said, raising his hands.

"You both pick on each other," Nessie said.

"It's because we care," Jacob called.

Edward raised his eyebrows at Nessie. "You should have seen us before you were born young lady."

"I try not to think about Jacob existing before me."

"It's better that way," Bella said. "Trust me, I do the same with your father."

"I didn't do anything exciting before you anyway," Edward said. "No worries."

"Is it true that you were going to abort me and have Jacob's babies?" Nessie asked her mother.

"I claim that as my idea," Edward said.

"I shot him down," Bella said.

I personally thought this question would be a little more heated, but Bella and Edward answered it like it was no big deal.

"What the hell?" Nessie said. "Thanks dad."

"I liked your mom more than you."

"That's awful," she said.

"Thank you, you're making me feel really good right now."

"Sorry," Nessie said. "I can't relate."

"And I hope you never have to," Edward said.

"Jacob," Nessie called. "They have confirmed what you told me last night."

"Ness, would I lie to you?" Jacob called.

"No, but you have to admit, if you were me, you would find it hard to believe that your husband was going to sleep with your mother if she aborted me like my father wanted."

"True," Jacob called. "I see your point."

"This is all freaking me the heck out," Eila said, coming out of her room.

"Just don't start thinking about Bryce's real age compared to your real age, and you'll be fine," Jasper said.

"I do my best not to," Eila said. She took a whiff of the air. "It smells good, for human food."

"Are you going to eat?" Edward asked.

"Nope," Eila said. "Been there, done that, not trying it again."

"Okay then," Edward said.


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

At that point, everyone else had been in to see Cade except for Kat and I, and we linked hands as we walked in. Mel was still cooing on my shoulder. "Hey there," I said as we walked in.

"Hey guys," Cade said. They had moved him into his bed, but he looked like he had been there the whole day. Marah was lying next to him, her little head tucked into his shoulder.

"How are you hanging in there?"

"I'm doing okay," Cade said. "I'm only getting better."

"Glad to hear it," I said.

"I'm glad to see some familiar faces," Cade said. He chuckled. "I still can't believe that happened."

"Neither can we, and we've been with them all day," Kat said.

"We heard you've had miss Marah as company," I said. I smiled at Marah, and she smiled back. "How has that been?"

"Oh," Cade said. "She's quiet company, but I like her and all, so it's all good."

"It's good that you like her," Kat said. "Since you're soul mates and all."

Cade laughed, and Marah smiled again. "How much does she understand of what we're saying do you think?" I asked.

"She doesn't understand most of it, she's still too young, both mentally and physically. I know I didn't understand much when I was her age."

Marah pointed at Melanie then. "Baby," she said.

"Good job Marah," Cade said. He kissed her head, not unlike how I kissed Melanie's. He was like the best babysitter ever. I hoped Melanie would have someone half as committed as Cade was to Marah. "She needs to sleep," Cade said. "She's been awake all day."

"Cade sleep," Marah said fiercely.

I laughed. "Okay then," I said. "I guess we'll take that as our cue to leave."

"Thanks for coming by," Cade said. "I know you came to see my dad, but thanks for coming in here anyway."

"No problem," Kat said. "You feel better bud."

"That's the goal," Cade said as we were walking out.

The dinner was superb. I mean I ate more that night than I had in my entire life. Kat ate well too, and Bella told her the weight she had put on made her look nice, and she thanked her. Melanie slept peacefully in Rosalie's arms until we left late into the night, and headed home.

I was tired, so I knew that the others must be exhausted from talking all last night. "Do you know when the last time those sheets were changed in the guest bedrooms?" Dan asked Ricky on the way home.

"A couple of weeks ago."

"We'll change them before you guys go to sleep," Dan said.

"We can do that," Ari said. "Seriously."

"Not a chance," Dan said, elbowing her in the ribs.

"I'll fight you," Ari said.

"You'll lose, I'll sit on you."

"I'll turn into a monstrous bear and smother you."

"That's a good point," Dan said.

"Do we have enough beds?" I asked.

"Come to think of it," Dan said. "No. We only have the three guest bedrooms now, and they each have a double bed. That puts us at four beds short."

"Doesn't the couch in the computer room pull out?"

"It does, make that two beds."

"I'm totally willing to crash on the couch," Ari said.

"Nonsense, you can sleep in my bed and I'll be on the couch."

"Dan, I slept in the woods for the past decade, a couch will suffice."

"And I've slept in a bed for the past decade, so I think it's my turn to have a few nights of couch sleeping."

"I'm going to lose this argument," Ari said.

"Yes," Dan confirmed.

"You also can have my bed," Ricky told Ava. I had kind of forgotten they were back there, they were being so quiet.

"That's very kind of you," Ava said.

"Thank you for just taking it," Ricky said.

"I accept failure when it comes to me," she said in her small voice.

We had just then gotten to the house, and Melanie was still sound asleep in her car seat. It was still backwards facing, so I just pulled her out carrier and all. She didn't even stir. She was too busy dreaming. It was storming out, and I was grateful for our garage.

Kat and I couldn't really help much; the boys were all over it. We took a minute to shower, but were both in bed within twenty minutes of getting home. The others were still getting settled in, but were quiet. I was asleep almost instantly, the thunder rocking me to sleep.

I was awakened by our door flying open. "Kat! Zeke!" I rolled over, sitting up, awake instantly. Ricky was there, and I heard the wind howling. "There's a tornado warning, we need to get downstairs. A tornado touched down in Port Angeles."

"I've got Mel," Kat said, already jumping to grab our baby.

"Get flashlights," I said.

"One step ahead of you brother," Ricky said.

The lights were off as we all flew downstairs, and I heard the hail start on the windows. I could see in the dark, but I knew that it was because of my eagle gene. The basement was finished, but it was more like a formal living room than anything else. People tended to gather down here during parties, and there was a mini-kitchen down here. We kept our extra groceries down here, and the boys put alcohol down here as well. Being nineteen, I'd never had a drink, but I knew they all did from time to time.

"Move into the bathroom," Dan instructed as we all made it to the bottom of the steep staircase. The full bathroom was in the corner of the basement, and it was a little small for all twenty-one of us, but we fit. Kat and I ended up sitting in the Jacuzzi tub with Melanie on our laps, and Justin and Cami across from us. The wind was still absolutely screeching, the rain and hail pounding the roof three floors above us.

"A tornado in Washington…" Adam said. "What the hell."

"They can happen anywhere," Dan said. "If it hits the house, cover your heads."

"Does anyone know where it is coming towards?" Evelyn asked. "Natural disasters freak the hell out of me."

"Looks like it's veering away from Forks, but could still potentially change direction. Reports from Port Angeles say that it was only a small tornado, and damage was minimal. There have been no casualties reported thus far," Alex read from his phone.

"We just wait out the warning," Scott said. "Everything will be okay."

"Melanie is still sound asleep," I noted.

"She's a pro at sleeping anywhere," Kat said. "She takes after her mother."

The lights flickered, and then completely went out. "And there's the lights," Landon said.

Dan flicked on a flashlight, and so did Justin. "Is this a bad sign?" I asked.

"Well, it probably means that the lines got knocked down," Adam said.

"Oh boy," Kat said. Dan flicked on the radio that we kept down here, and we heard that the funnel had touched down just North of us, but was currently heading away from where we were. "Forks and La Push continue taking cover," the newscaster advised us.

"Will do," Brian said.

"Have you heard from the others?" I asked

"Yes," Dan said, looking at his phone. "Most of them are in their bathrooms or closets, but Nessie and Jacob are sitting on their back step watching it."

"What the hell is wrong with them?" Lilah said.

"They take this immortal thing pretty seriously," Dan said. "I guess Jacob has been sleeping all day so he wasn't really tired, and he felt up to moving, so he moved to the kitchen, and then the storm came, so he moved to the back step. I guess the Cullens are all running around outside like lunatics. They made the kids stay in the house, but Cade is itching to get out."

"He's his father's son," Corey said.

"Oh definitely," Dan said. "That kid is one tough nut."

Eventually the hail stopped, but the rain kept pounding. Melanie woke up hungry, something she only did about once a week these days. "Really Mel?" Kat said. "You decided that tonight you were going to wake up hungry?"

As if answering her, Melanie cried louder. "Okay, okay," Kat said. "Give me a second to get my boob for you."

"Thank you for being so explicit," Alex said.

"Every single time," Kat said. "I will be that explicit every single time I have the chance."

"I can appreciate that," Alex said.

Mel quieted as she latched on to Kat. "At least its dark," Kat said. "That way you can't see me awkwardly trying to hide my boob."

"Why is nursing such an awkward thing?" Ari said. "I feel like it affects a lot of the population. Shouldn't people be used to it by now?"

"You'd think," Kat said. "But no. I don't know though, when I'm out in public, people just glare at me all the time because I look like a total whore. Maybe it's because I'm so young."

"That makes me kind of angry," Ari said. "Who the hell has the right to judge?"

"You can't stop it," Kat said. "And it doesn't happen in town anymore, everyone knows what happened at this point."

"Good point," Ari said.

We sat in the dark for a while longer, and it started to hail again eventually. "What a storm," Hannah said.

"What did you guys usually do during storms?" Robert asked.

"Ran away from it sometimes," Hannah said. "Sometimes we just hid under trees."

"Basically," Nia said.

"Did you ever have any scary ones?" Dan asked.

"Yeah, there was one when we were somewhere in Oregon where a tornado actually touched ground. We were right by a campsite, and thought about shifting back just so we could take cover, but we ended up in a ravine."

"Holy shit we were there," about ten voices said at the same time.

"Wait, really?" Evelyn said.

"For real," Dan said. "The wolves were all there camping with their families, and we realized a few months ago that we were all there at the same time. We almost shifted back too, but decided against it at the last minute."

"Oh my gosh," Evelyn said. "To think that we were all that close…"

"To think that I could have met you years ago," Scott said.

"I was thinking along the same lines," Scarlette said.

"Wow…" Kat said. "That sucks. I guess the fates were not aligned."

"You want to know what's really freaky?" Justin said. "I remember feeling weird that night, and thinking it was just because of the storm."

"Me too," Ari said. "I mean, we never wanted to change back, but something was telling me to that night. I ignored it."

"Same for us," Dan said. "I wasn't even sure how many of us there were, much less how to change back. The times we did were just accidents for the most part."

"It's true," Ricky said. "Damn," he said with a sigh. "Those were rough times."

"It wasn't really bad until the real eagles started following us," Dan said. "That's how birdlike we were."

"That happened to us for a few years," Ari said. "But when we all changed back about five years ago, they stopped following us."

"Why did you guys change back a few years ago?" Brian asked.

"We wandered onto some trails, and we didn't realize how many people travelled on them until we were almost surrounded by them. We climbed trees to stay out of their sight," Ari explained.

"That sounds terrifying," Adam said.

"It was pretty awful," Nia said. "One of the scariest moments of my life actually."

A loud clap of thunder sounded overhead, so loud that it shook the ground.

"Just kidding that was the scariest," Nia said.

Everyone laughed, and Kat leaned into me. I put my arm around her shoulders and kissed her head. "Is she asleep again?" I asked her.

"I couldn't tell you," Kat said. "All I know is that she keeps sucking my boob, so I don't stop."

"How do you know how to nurse?" Hannah asked. "I've never understood that."

"You don't," Kat said. "I just put her on my boob, and figured the rest out from there. It's natural to do it though. It's kind of like how do you know how to have a baby? You don't, but you figure it out."

Hannah laughed. "I can accept that."

The conversations we had in the dark were interesting, but for our family, I wasn't surprised. We were in the basement with a tornado warning for over two hours, and Kat eventually started dozing on my shoulder. When we finally got the clear to go back upstairs, there was still no power. Kat held Melanie even in her sleep, and I carried them both back up to our room. There were tree branches everywhere, but I was too exhausted to do much but crawl back into bed and go to sleep, Kat in my arms.

In the six weeks leading up to the wedding, Kat and I worked nonstop on the house, and wedding plans. Kat was gone one Saturday getting her wedding dress, and Alexis found her dress that day as well. Alice found a dress that would be Melanie's size in the same color as Alexis's, so it was kind of a like she was a bridesmaid after all. The Cullen's had to go back to school for three more weeks after their last visit, but as soon as classes were out for the summer, they were back down here. Dan and I got our coats and ties. My tie was white, his the sea-foam green of Alexis's dress.

The house was looking great. Amari had really pulled all our mismatched pieces together somehow. We had furniture from all sorts of people around town, and though none of it was from the same set, it all together created a fun vibe in the house. Melanie's room was decorated with a crib and changing table that were handed down from her older cousins. The whole house looked brighter with a new coat of paint on it, and a few things touched up. The floors were hard wood throughout the house, and though we only had one bathroom, it was big, as were the closets in the bedrooms. We technically had only two bedrooms, but there was a room without a closet in it that could be used as someone's bedroom. It was supposed to be an office originally, but Kat and I had no need for that.

We got a huge surprise two weeks before the wedding when Ricky drove up in a silver car I had never seen before. "Nice car," I said. "Who's is it?"

"Yours," he said.

"…what?" I asked, completely confused.

"We bought it for you guys as a wedding gift. It was cheap, like really cheap, because Landon knew the guy or something. I don't know, all I know is that we each put in about two hundred bucks, the girls included in that, and we got you the car."

Kat had walked out in the middle of his speech. "You guys did not," she said. "Seriously, we can't take this."

"She's right," I said.

"You're all ready for marriage," Ricky said. "Just keep practicing that phrase buddy."

"Dan!" I called.

"Take the damn car!" he called back immediately.

I looked at Kat, as Ricky walked past us into the house. She shrugged her shoulders at me, mouth wide in surprise. "Thank you!" I called.

"It's because we love you!" Someone yelled, I think it was Scarlette.

"You've only known me for four weeks!"

"Which means the two of you are entirely too lovable," Evelyn said as we walked into the house.

"Seriously guys," Kat said. "This is huge." I could hear the emotion in her voice.

"Aw Kat!" Ari said, standing up and giving her a hug. Kat swiped at her eyes, and I smiled at my girl. "Girl, two hundred dollars was the least I could do for you. You took care of us on that first day. Actually, you take care of us every day, and you work so hard. And you have a baby. You all needed a car more than you realized."

"I know," Kat said. "That's why I'm so grateful."

I elbowed Kat. "Since when do you cry when you're happy?"

"Jeez," she said. "I don't know. Since I had something to be this happy about!"

"Good point," I said. I pulled her into my arms and she buried her face in my chest. "But for real," she said, pulling away. "Thank you."

"It was really not a big deal," Ricky said "It was twenty people buying a car; not that much money for anyone."

"Still," I said. "It's a very kind gesture."

That night, Kat and I were lying in bed, Melanie sleeping soundly in her bassinette. "Can you believe we have a car and a house?" Kat whispered to me.

"I can't," I said, kissing her forehead. "Can you believe we're getting married?"

Kat chuckled quietly. "I feel like we've been married for a year already."

I smiled. "I guess we are kind of doing this thing backwards."

She ran her hand u and down my bare back slowly. "You know," she said. "I really couldn't ask for more."

I held her closer, smelling her hair, feeling her soft skin against mine. Her small frame was strong, but still petite enough that I felt like I could hold her here if I wanted. I didn't ever want to let her go. We dozed off all tangled together like that, and it felt like only a few moments later when I felt Kat wriggling out of my arms.

I pulled myself out of my dreamland, flickering my eyes. Kat had turned away from, and was laying on her side. "Kat," I whispered, still not fully awake. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Sure," she said, but I could tell she was uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Well," she said. "This is a new experience for us." She pulled her legs up to her chest. "I'm having some female issues."

I shook the sleepiness out of my brain. "Oh," I said. I scooted closer to her, and put my hand on her upper arm, rubbing it a little. I was as clueless about this as I had been for all of Kat's pregnancy. Shit. "Can I get you something?" I asked.

She arched her back, slowly writhing, and my heart hurt for her. "Unfortunately," she said. "No. Painkillers won't work, and we can't heat anything up hot enough that I'll feel it, and those are what usually work." I scooted closer to her, curving my body around hers. I felt helpless. "You know what," she said. "I'm going to go walk around downstairs. Sometimes it helps."

"I'll come with," I said.

"Really, you can go back to sleep if you want."

"Kat," I said, and I raised my eyebrows at her. "Like I'd really be able to sleep knowing that you're in pain."

"True."

After peeking at Mel who was still sound asleep in her crib, I followed Kat downstairs. The only lights on were in the kitchen, so those who were coming in from patrol would be able to get around. As we rounded the corner to the kitchen, I heard voices.

"Well hello there," Lilah said.

For some reason, I was not shocked to see sixteen members of our household sitting or standing in the kitchen. Adam, Ricky, Scarlette, and Ava were all out running patrol. "Please tell me you're not up for the same reason I am…." Kat said, trailing off.

"I'm afraid so sister," Ari said.

"We're all fucked," Kat said. "You boys better run for cover."

"I'm scared," Justin said.

"You'd better be," Nia said, elbowing him.

"It's been ten years for us," Ari said. "My body is rebelling."

"Good lord I don't even want to think about that," Kat said. "It's been fourteen months for me and this is still torturous." She put her hands on her hips and hunched herself over.

"I have no idea what to do for you," Landon said, looking at Valerie.

"Eh," Valerie said, shifting in her seat uncomfortably. "This is what we're made to do."

I scoffed, remembering what Kat had told me the night she was giving birth. "Are all women masochists?" I asked.

"No," Evelyn said. "We just know what we're designed to do, and we do it."

"Exactly," Zoey said. "It's not like we can stop it anyway."

"Valid point," I noted. I'd known for a while now that women were much tougher than men. I could never have done what Kat did and still be stable. This conversation was just supporting that fact. The kitchen was silent except for the pacing footsteps of a few girls.

"Well," Kat said. "We'll need to go to the store tomorrow I suppose."

"Oh God I forgot how to use a tampon," Ari said, smacking her head with her palm.

"That's okay, there's directions on the box in three different languages," Kat said. "And you just kind of shove it up there and start praying."

Cami laughed. "This is going to be a fun week."

"Yeah," Brian said. "Fun."


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

"At least the wedding isn't this weekend," Kat pointed out.

"Good bright side," Scott said.

Hannah made a noise that sounded like she was having an asthma attack. "I can't breathe," she said, bending herself in half.

Robert patted her lower back. "It'll be alright," he said.

"Easy for you to say."

"Another valid point," he said.

"Zeke," Kat said. "We're going to go have sex."

I jerked my head at her. "What?"

"Just kidding," she said. "I heard one time that it helps, but the lady who told me was high, so."

"Right…" I said, nodding my head. Sex would be nice…. We hadn't had it since Melanie was born. But maybe that was something that could wait for after the wedding. I liked the idea of that personally.

We were up for about half an hour before Kat decided to go back to bed to try and get comfortable. I let her get settled before I did. "Zeke," she whispered to me.

"Yeah?" I said, rolling over.

"Do you think you could rub my stomach?"

I pushed myself closer to her, folding around her body and draping my arm over her stomach. I traced circles on her stomach, not entirely sure what I was doing. It was kind of like when she was pregnant, but there was a lot less belly to rub. She sighed. "That is heaven," she said. "Thank you."

I kissed her cheek. "It's my pleasure." She was mine, and I was hers. At some point I fell asleep, and when I woke up in the morning, Kat was wrapped up in my arms, just like she had been every night for the last year. That morning after taking a shower, I took Melanie downstairs while Kat got ready.

I ran into Scarlette on the stairs. "Good morning," I said.

"Fuck you."

"Hey now," I said. "Baby ears."

"Sorry," she said, sounding a lot more gentle. "Seriously."

"No harm done," I noted.

Ava, Evelyn, and Zoey were all sitting at the dining room table with their heads flat against it. I tried to hold back my laughter at how identically the three of them were sitting.

"Morning," Ricky said.

"Morning," I said. Melanie was able to hold herself up by now and look around at her large family.

"Good morning Miss Melanie," Ricky said, smiling at her. She giggled, and cuddled into my shoulder.

"She is such a daddy's girl," Dan said.

"It's true," I said. "Let's keep it that way."

Valerie came down the stairs and reached for Melanie. I handed her over without even thinking about it. I made myself three slices of toast, and then made Kat two more slices. She came down just as I was finishing up, and Melanie was fussing.

"Melanie my girl," Kat said. "What are you crying about huh?"

Valerie bounced her on her knee, but Melanie continued to fuss. "Well," I said. "She's not hungry and her diaper is dry."

"Are you sure about the second?"

"I changed her before coming downstairs."

"Huh," Kat said, taking a bite of her toast. "Could it be a tooth?"

I walked over to our fussy little girl and put my hand on her chin. I pulled down, looking at her bottom gums. The left side looked a little white and stretched. "Yep," I said.

"Seriously?" Kat asked, coming over to look.

"For real," I said.

"Well, time for this adventure," Kat said.

"We could try those teething rings that Mikayla gave us," I suggested.

"Works for me," Kat said. I walked to the closet in the front hall where we kept some of Melanie's things, and pulled out the teething rings. I gave the chain of them to Melanie, and by some force outside of my control, she knew to put them in her mouth. She stopped fussing immediately.

"Score one for Zeke," Kat said. "Way to go!"

"Lucky guess," I said with a shrug.

"We should probably get her some tylenol when we go to the store today," Kat said.

"Yes," I agreed. "Definitely."

"Good plan, just drug her up," Landon said.

"Exactly," Kat and I said at the same time, and then laughed. Kat walked over to Zoey and put her hand on her shoulder.

"You going to make it there kid?" she asked.

"Likely," Zoey said, sitting up and putting her head in her hands.

"Everyone else?" Kat said. The girls gave nods or noises of agreement.

"Though," Lilah said. "I would say that trip to the store should be sooner rather than later."

"Agreed," Kat said. "We'll go first thing."

"Are we supposed to come on this trip to the store?" Dan asked as he loaded the dishwasher.

"Yes," All ten of the girls said immediately. Cami and Justin were out on patrol.

"It's unanimous then," Dan said. "We'll finish up breakfast and then head out." He touched his back pants pocket, and I realized he was feeling for his wallet. "How much money are we going to need?"

"Couldn't tell you," Ari said.

"I really don't know either," Kat said. "I got tampons from the school nurse."

"Ouch," Lilah said. "The cheap cardboard ones hurt."

"I tend to agree," Kat said. "But I needed the money for food, so I did what I had to do."

"So no cardboard tampons…" I said, trailing off. "I'm just gonna store that one in my memory."

Kat laughed. "Alright king of tampon buying," she said, remembering what I had said on one of my first mornings here.

"You know it," I said.

Melanie was pretty fussy, but I would be too if I had a tooth trying to push it's way through my gum. She was actually really attached to both Kat and I, fussing more when we weren't the one's holding her. It was kind of sweet actually, but I figured it was just because of her tooth. Once we were at the store, Kat and the other girls went on an adventure down the aisle of womanhood, while me and the other guys checked out the aisle with painkillers.

"Is this it?" Robert asked me, holding up a box that looked like children's Tylenol.

"No," I said. "I think they have to be a year old to take that."

"What do you know, I learned something today," he said.

I bounced Melanie in my arms, and she put her thumb in her mouth. She put her head on my shoulder, and I kissed her head, patting her back. "That's Daddy's good girl," I said.

"Ma ma ma ma," she said. She'd started making noises like that lately, but we knew she didn't have any idea that words related to objects.

"Sure," I said, playing along with her. "Go ahead and make mommy your favorite. I'll take a hint."

"Got it," Dan said, holding it out to me. I took a glance at it, seeing that it was what we wanted.

"Perfect," I said. I picked up a medication dispenser that said it could be used on babies. "You little girl," I said. "Are not going to like this, but it will make you feel better."

"Da da da da," she responded to me.

"There you go," I said. "Now you've got the right person."

We all wandered over to the aisle where we could hear the girls.

"I don't have any idea what I'm doing," I heard Scarlette say.

"I feel like they all do the same purpose," Lilah added.

"That one has sparkles on the wrapper…" Ava said, sounding horrified.

"That crosses a line," Ari agreed.

"I feel like if we can all agree on one brand, that will really simplify this," Evelyn said.

"Agreed, let's figure this shit out," Zoey said, and they all laughed as we came around the corner.

"We're working on it okay," Kat said, holding up her hands.

I raised my eyebrows at her. "I know," I said. "We heard."

It only took a few minutes for the girls to figure out what brand they wanted, and it was only a short while before we were in line. "I hate being a female," Nia said, planting her head on Corey's shoulder.

"Just wait until you're having a child," Kat said. "I've never despised my own sexuality so much in my life."

"I try not to think about it," Nia said.

"I think that's best," Kat agreed.

That week was admittedly rough. Kat was super moody, as were the other girls. I mostly just tried to steer clear of them. Though Kat was totally cranky, we were both still really excited about the wedding. We started to move some of our stuff over to our house that weekend, and it really started to feel like home to me. We weren't spending our first night there until the night of the wedding, but we couldn't wait.

Two days before the wedding, we got word that Kristen had gone into early labor. After waiting up half the night for news, we were so glad to hear that a slightly premature Ellie and Ethan had been born. Kristen was exhausted, but fine, and delighted by her two babies. Apparently Ethan looked just like David had, and Paul, Rachel, Kim, and Jarred absolutely adored their first grandchildren. We planned to go see them tomorrow afternoon, and then that night, all of my sisters were arriving.

We carpooled over to their house in La Push, and I wasn't surprised to see lots of other cars. David opened the door for us. "Hello there," he said.

"Congratulations," I said, shaking his hand. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm still kicking," he said. "But boy have there been a lot of people here today."

Kat laughed. "I'll bet."

Kristen had come out of the delivery well, and was actually sitting on the couch. "Hey guys!" she said, sounding tired but ecstatic. I remembered that feeling well.

"Look at you," Kat said. "You had twins twelve hours ago and you've already made it to the couch."

Kristen laughed. "It ain't easy sister."

Kristen had Ellie on her legs, and Ethan on the couch next to her. "Oh my gosh," Evelyn said. "They are so sweet."

David laughed. "They've been asleep all day."

"They tend to do that," I noted.

I got to hold Ellie, and I couldn't believe how small she was. It seemed strange to me that Melanie had been that size just a few months ago. Melanie was good for our little visit, and we left straight from there to go to the airport. We thought it would be a little overwhelming for everyone to go pick up my sisters, so just Dan and I went. Kat was going to go, but Melanie was acting pretty tired, and we figured we should get her in bed sooner rather than later. The girls were going to be staying with us for the two nights that they were here. Slowly but surely, the girls had moved into their imprints rooms. Kat and I hadn't said anything about it, just let it happen. It worked out well though, because now my sisters would each have a place to sleep. We had set aside one room for Candice and her boyfriend, and I was really hoping that didn't create an awkward situation. They'd continued dating even after their movie ended, and were apparently working on post-production together. Bethany and her boyfriend were going to be in the same room, so things wouldn't get too steamy.

It was already eight o'clock when I finally spotted the girls at the airport. Dan was kind of hanging behind me, and I suppose I would be too after not seeing my sisters for fourteen years. "Candy!" I called, and she turned her head to me, smiling and waving. I hadn't seen my oldest sisters since Tiffany's wedding, and I was surprised at how much older they looked than they had five years ago.

There were ten people and one little baby walking toward us just a moment later. "Hey there!" Candice said, pulling me into her arms. "Oh my god," she said. "You're huge Zeke! My little brother is gone."

I kissed her on the head. "You look great," I said. "And this must be…" I trailed off, looking at her boyfriend.

"Carter," the guy said, stepping forward to shake my hand. He looked like I expected Candice's boyfriend to look: totally artistic and tall. They were well suited.

"Nice to meet you," I said. Dan was standing with his hands in his pockets, looking terribly awkward.

"Dan…" Candice said, and I knew she was noticing how young he still looked. He didn't look nineteen to me though. His eyes were so much older when I looked at them.

"Candice," he said. He shook his head. "You aren't eight anymore…" Dan shook his head. "You look just like mom."

Candice rolled her eyes. "I wish I didn't," she said. "But I suppose she is beautiful."

"She is," Dan said with a nod.

Jessa was already stepping toward me, a baby in her arms. "Look at you," she said. "You look good Zeke!" she punched me in the arm, and I laughed.

"You look awesome!" I commented, seeing that she was still stick thin after having a baby. Let me see this little guy," I said, holding my arms out. He was a bit older than Melanie was, but still small enough not to care when she handed him to me. He curled right up in my arms and put his head on my shoulder, and everyone laughed.

"I guess he likes you," Jessa said. "Where's Melanie? Or Kat for that matter? We've got to meet our sister-in-law!"

"They stayed home," I said. "Mel's getting some teeth in, and was tired, so Kat said she'd meet you when you got in."

"Works for me," Jessa said. "I don't think Simon's going to make it much later either." She took the quiet little boy from me, and I saw him yawn.

"Nice to see you again Zeke," Lex said, shifting a bag on his shoulder to shake my hand. "You got a lot taller huh?"

"Oh yes," I said. "Very quickly."

Bethany was next, giving me a peck on the cheek. "You remember Sebastian from Tiff's wedding?" she asked.

"Of course," I said. "I hung out with you the whole night."

"It's true," Sebastian said. "You were the coolest fourteen-year-old ever."

I laughed. "Thanks man."

"Zeke," Grace said, giving me a hug. "My little man is all grown up…"

"Gracie," I said. "My big Gracie is smaller than me now!"

She laughed. "I'm glad to see you. And I'm glad I'll get to see you again in a couple of months. We've set the wedding for this September, in LA."

"Road trip!" I said. "And congratulations."

"I'm impressed with you and Kat," Grace said. She patted the man next to her on the arm. "It took Toby and I a year to even start planning a wedding, and you guys got the whole thing done in six months."

I laughed. "We're a good team," I said. "And we have a massive family."

"So I've heard," Gracie said.

Tiffany gave me a hug next. "Well now," she said. She blinked, and I thought I saw tears. "I feel like a proud mother right now," she said with a laugh. "You've grown up!"

I chuckled, pulling her into my arms. "You were my mother Tiffany," I said. "All of you were. I've had five mothers for my whole life." At eleven years older than me, Tiffany had just had her thirtieth birthday.

Tiffany chuckled. "Well," she said. "We told the girls on the way." I saw that she was holding Ian's hand. "We found out yesterday morning that I'm pregnant."

"Tif!" I said. "Congratulations." I pulled her in for another hug. Melanie would have two cousins now.

"Did I just hear that right?" Dan asked, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen between him and the girls.

"You totally did," I said. "You're going to be an uncle again."

"Boom!" Dan said with a fist pump.

"Are you any good with kids?" Jessa asked.

"Actually," Dan said. "Yes." He smiled. "You see, the people I've been living with for the last decade all have a very large extended family. They all live in the next town over, and we are frequently the go-to babysitters. I've watched several dozen kids grow up."

"I see," Jessa said. She looked at Simon. "Go on now," she said to her little guy. "Go see your other uncle."

Simon again had very little reaction to being handed over, and knowing how calm Jessa was, I wasn't surprised. He reached up and touched Dan's face, and Dan chuckled, bouncing him. "He likes to feel the prickliness of a beard," Lex explained.

"That's adorable," Dan said. "You're adorable," he told Simon. "Do you know that?"

"Mel will be glad to have a playmate for a few days," I said.

"Does she crawl yet?" Tiffany asked me.

"Not yet," I said. "But she rolls around like crazy. We baby-gated the stairs last week, and since then, we've just about killed ourselves running into it every time we go up or down."

"The good news is," Dan said. "Your new house doesn't have a staircase."

"Exactly," I said. "So only two more days of your kneecaps suffering."

We all managed to fit in the two cars that Dan and I had brought, but Dan had rented a ten-passenger van for the occasion. I was in the car with Jessa, Lex, and Simon, and we spent the trip home getting caught up, and swapping parenting stories.

"You know," Jessa said as we were nearing home. "We all think it's really great that you're raising Melanie as your own."

I smiled a little to myself. I hardly ever remembered that she wasn't my own, if we were being honest. "She might as well be," I said with a shrug. "I've been there since the day Kat found out she was pregnant."

"That's really good of you," Lex said.

I smiled a little again, realizing that they couldn't understand. "You'd do the exact same thing," I said. "If you were in my situation."

"Isn't it ever kind of weird?" Jessa asked.

"No," I said, shaking my head, and turning on the wipers as it started to rain. "She really is mine, in all the ways she can be." I rolled my neck. "Wait until you see how she is with me," I said. "She couldn't be anyone's but mine. I mean," I continued. "Think about it. Dan was my father for the first five years of my life. I had five mothers for my entire life, and none of you were ever my actual parents. That doesn't mean that you weren't parenting me."

"Good point," Jessa said. "Very good point." She shuffled around in the back. "Simon is out," she said.

"Well," I said, making a turn. "We are here." I chuckled. "There's going to be thirty-two people living here for the next two days, but don't worry, you guys have your own room to hide in."

Lex and Jessa laughed. "That's alright," Lex said. "This will be fun."

As far as any of my sisters knew, the girls were just girlfriends to all of the guys living here. They thought it was a little weird, but hadn't really commented on the matter. I figured we would just leave it at that. Everyone was still up at home when we came in, and Kat was waiting right by the door.

"Hi there!" she said, standing up to greet us. "I'm Kat."

"You're gorgeous," Bethany said. "Holy cow."

Kat chuckled. "Well thank you very much," she said. "Oh my gosh, is this the baby?" she asked.

"Sure is," Jessa said, turning so that she could see Simon sleeping on her shoulder.

"He's got your nose," Kat said, and Jessa smiled. This would all work out just fine, I told myself.

That night was pretty hectic. We had to be super sneaky when leaving for patrol, and though everyone pretty much got settled and went to bed, living with thirty-two people was insane. I was ready for some alone time with just Kat and Melanie, and Saturday couldn't come fast enough. I was glad to see my sisters, but crowded was crowded. I slept like a rock that night, and was grateful when Melanie didn't wake up until after seven am.

I spent that morning with my sisters and their significant others, as well as Kat and Melanie. The others were around, but more of a presence than anything else. The girls all kept to themselves, and I was surprised when I heard a knock on the door and laughter outside a little after lunch. "Who could that be?" Dan asked.

He got up to answer the door. "Hello," I heard Alexis say. "We are here to kidnap Kat."

Alexis, Allison, Kelsey, and Madison walked through the door. "Oh no," Kat said.

"Hand that baby over and get out here," Alexis said. "This is your bachelorette slash primping party."

"I hope you aren't planning on forcing me to drink alcohol, because you will lose," Kat said.

"Of course not, you're breastfeeding," Alexis said, waving her hand. "And none of us are old enough to buy alcohol anyway."

Kat looked at me, and I smiled. "Go," I told her. "Give me Mel, go have a good time!"

Kat shrugged. "Okay then," she said. "I'll be back then."

"I love you."

"I love you too," she said.

"Family?" Grace guessed after they left.

"Sure was," I said. "That was her maid of honor actually."

"She seemed sweet," Bethany said.

"She is," I told her.

Melanie sat contently on my lap for a little while, but Simon was crawling around the living room with one of his toys and she was entertained by that. We all had so much catching up to do that the time was flying. As usual when Kat wasn't with me, I felt a little empty on the inside. Though, there were plenty of distractions. The rest of my family got introduced to our sisters, and I was grateful to see that Dan didn't seem as awkward with them as he had last night. We all talked about memories we had from when we were younger; the good and the bad. I was glad to see that my sister's significant others did not seem surprised by the stories we were telling them. That meant that they knew where we came from.

I really got along well with my brother-in-laws. They were perfect for my sisters, if I did say so myself. I saw a lot of weddings in our future. Candice and Carter had fantastic stories about film school and about the latest movie they filmed. They had worked with A-list actors who had apparently been hilarious, seeing as it was a comedy movie that they were filming. Lex worked as a professor of music, and actually had his doctorate in saxophone playing. I'd heard him in High School, and he was good, but I hadn't realized he was that good. Sebastian was working as a personal trainer, and Toby was working his way through Med School as of current. Ian worked as an interpreter at LAX, and was making plenty to support a family. I wondered why he and Tiff had waited so long to start a family.

Kat got back around seven o'clock that night. "I survived," she said as she let herself in the front door.

"Scary?" I asked.

"Terrifying," she answered. She showed me her nails. "I've never had a coat of paint on my nails, never had my eyebrows plucked, never had a facial. All were firsts for me today. It was awful."

"Well," I said. "You look very nice," I laughed, bouncing a fussy Melanie on my knee. "And you have a very hungry baby."

"Right," Kat said. She got herself situated next to me on the couch and managed to get Melanie latched on while remaining classy.

"How long do you plan on breastfeeding?" Jessa asked Kat.

"Good question," Kat said with a laugh. "Probably until she is a year, but I haven't really thought about it."

"I was thinking the same thing," Jessa said. "I don't know why everyone seems to think that being a parent is a natural thing. I don't have any idea what I'm doing."

"Oh my god I know," Kat said. "I literally live moment to moment. I don't even know if she's developing like she's supposed to be and stuff."

Lex laughed. "Google has raised our child for the last eight months," he said.

"That's a good idea," I said. "We just cross our fingers and hope we're doing it right."

Dan stretched his hands above his head. "Do you guys want to go get dinner?" He asked.

Tiffany chuckled. "Can you do that in this town?"

"Touché," Dan said. "But yes, we do have a diner."

"Yeah I worked there when I was pregnant," Kat said.

"A diner sounds lovely," Candice said. "I feel like we've been living on McDonald's for a year."

"And free set food," Carter commented.

"Also that," Candice said.

We all got our shoes and coats on, and I grabbed Melanie's diaper bag. "Um," Lilah said, walking into the kitchen. "We would like to volunteer to babysit."

"Really?" I said.

"Really," Lilah said. "It's no big deal." She looked at Jessa and Lex who were tag-teaming Simon's coat.

"We can watch him too if you'd like," she offered.

"Oh boy," Lex said.

Jessa laughed. "Lex has been trying to get me to leave him with a babysitter for about a month now," she said. She looked Lilah up and down. "You're Lilah?" she said.

"Yes," Lilah said.

"And you think you could handle him?"

Lilah smiled. "Yes, I'm pretty sure I can. And I'll have a lot of help. There will still be eighteen people here, all of whom adore children."

Jessa looked at me, and I smiled. "He'd be fine," I said. "They've stayed with Melanie before. And we'll only be gone for a couple of hours."

Jessa looked at Lex, and he said, "I'd have handed him over by now."

Jessa laughed. "Okay okay," she said. "His stuff is all in the room we're staying in."

"We'll try to have them both in bed," Lilah said. "But I make no promises."

"No worries," Jessa said. "Just keep him alive, and we're good."

"That, I can promise," Lilah said with a laugh. She took Simon from Jessa, and though he cried, Jessa did good getting her coat on and leaving. I could hear Lilah and Brian shushing him as we drove away. They would be great parents someday.

Dinner was great. I felt like all fourteen of us were more bonded after spending some time alone together, and I saw a relationship building between Dan and his brother-in-laws. My sisters loved Kat and Ari. Ari and Tiffany were pretty similar in a lot of ways, and they totally bonded over it. We talked a little bit about my mom, but I was the last person to have heard from her and that was over a year ago. Jessa didn't look too worried to me, and I took that as a good sign. Kat was glad to see everyone at the diner, and they asked her all about Melanie and her job at the school.

The morning of the wedding dawned nice and clear. I woke up long before anyone else, excitement keeping me from staying asleep. I stood by the wall of windows in our room and looked out at the yard. Alice, the wedding planner extraordinaire, had been out there all night setting things up. Our wedding was very simple, but she had made it beautiful none the less. She told us it was her pleasure, and I wasn't going to turn down free help.

I looked at Melanie sleeping in her crib, and smiled to myself. Her little legs were up under her, and she looked so peaceful in her sleep. Her little eyelids fluttered, and I thought that she must be dreaming. She was so beautiful. I sometimes found it hard to believe that something so beautiful had come out of something so terrible. But then again, how could she not be beautiful? She was so loved. I thought she might just be the most loved little girl that ever existed, but I knew all parents thought that. Anything that was loved that much must be beautiful.

I let my eyes wander over to my Kat, and I felt my heart swell with emotion. She was on top of the sheets, her hair fanning out from her head on the pillow. Her tiny little frame was half-swallowed by the bed, her breathing slow and even. I thought of every night for the last year, laying in this bed with her. I remembered our first night, and how we had come together even in our sleep. I remembered her telling me she might be pregnant, and all of the emotions that came with that. I remembered how it felt putting my hand on her baby bump the first time, and how I felt like I could almost reach though her and touch our baby even before she was born. I remembered how it felt on that first night when we had made love. I remembered how perfectly we had fit together, me sliding so gently into her, her body wrapping around mine. I remembered holding her when she was so big I could barely get my arms around her.

I remembered Melanie being born. I remembered holding Kat as she writhed against me, and how I wanted to do it for her, to take the pain for her. I remembered her going limp in my arms, and feeling my world spiraling out of my control. I remembered how it felt when they put Melanie in Kat's arms, mine helping her hold Melanie up. I remembered getting down on one knee, and knowing that I was ready to tie Kat to me in every way possible. I remembered nights from the last six months when Melanie woke up crying, and feeling so exhausted, but loving every second of it. I remembered Kat breastfeeding Melanie, and thinking how it must be the most beautiful thing in the world. I remembered Kat's little body pressed right up against mine, her head on my chest, the smell of her hair drowning in my nostrils.

I didn't want to forget anything that had happened in this house, but I was ready to make new memories in our own house. Our room was mostly empty at this point, with just a few things not moved to the other house yet. I watched the sun come up over the trees, and heard Kat stirring. I looked over my shoulder at her, and smiled as she woke up.

"Good morning," I said laying down on the bed next to her. I pulled her into my arms. "My beautiful bride," I added.

She smiled. "I never thought that people really fell in love," she said. "I thought it was all just something people made up. But there's no other way to describe how I feel about you," she said. She buried her face in my chest. "I can feel us falling, but I don't want it to stop."

I stroked her silky hair. "That hit the nail on the head," I said, kissing the top of her head. We laid there for maybe half an hour, just being together, but soon I heard movement in the other rooms, and Melanie started to fuss. Kat and I got up, and I brought Melanie to her to be fed. Just like we had that first time, I held Kat while she nursed. I stroked the short little hair on Melanie's head, and listened to the noises she made as she ate.

"She's so beautiful," Kat whispered to me.

"Yes," I said, kissing her on the cheek. "You both are."

Kat finished nursing Melanie, and we got up to get ready. She was standing in our closet, looking at her side. She laughed. "What do you wear on the day of your wedding?"

I laughed too. "I'm going for sweats."

"We should have gone nude."

"I tried to tell you," I said, continuing our joke.

I put on a pair of gray sweatpants and a black t-shirt, turning over my shoulder to look at Kat. She had on black running pants and a tight-fitted cobalt blue t-shirt. Standing there, looking like that, I couldn't help myself. I put my hands on her hips and pushed her back against her side of the closet. "Hey there," I said, resting my head on hers.

"Hello Mr. Rock," she said. She put her lips on mine, and her arms around my neck, pulling me down to her. I could feel every familiar curve of her body curling into mine, and I picked her up, just like I had the first time. She put her hand on my cheek, feeling my face. She was the one who pulled away. "So," she said. "I take it you're looking forward to our first night not sharing a room with our daughter?"

I laughed. "I am," I said.

She rubbed my shoulders. "Well," she said. "I hope I don't disappoint."

I gave her another peck. "You could never disappoint me Kat," I told her.

She smiled. "And hey, there won't be a baby in the way this time."

I laughed and held her close to me. "Good point."

We headed downstairs for breakfast, Melanie giggling the whole way. None of my sisters were up yet. "Hey!" Dan said as we walked into the kitchen. "There they are!"

"Sit!" Justin said, picking Kat up and putting her in a chair.

"Jeez, you could have asked!"

"You wouldn't have listened," he said. "You too Zeke. Give me that baby."

"Uh," I said, taking a seat. "What's going on?"

"We're making you breakfast," Dan said. "Because it's your last morning here, we love you, and we haven't done it yet."

"Aw," Kat said. "That's nice."

"We got you girl," Ari said. "It's your wedding day after all!"

Kat laughed. "I'm gathering this."

The breakfast was delicious, and it was hard for me to believe that this was going to be our last meal while living in this house. We had ate so many times here, so much had happened here, and everything was changing. I was grateful for what we had, and for how much we had to look forward to. We had just put our forks down when there was knock on the front door, and Lilah opened the door.

"We've come for the girl," I heard Rosalie say. "I have strict instructions to kidnap Kat, and I brought Alexis as my backbone."

"Oh for goodness sake," Kat said, standing up. "Already?"

"Yes, you're getting married in like six hours. We must make you gloriously beautiful," Alexis said.

"Yes," Rosalie agreed. "Something like that. Kristen said she'd do your hair if I watched her children. Obviously, I said yes. So, we're going over there, and Julia is going to do your makeup. She's a monster at it."

"That sounds terrifying," Kat said.

"You'll be fine, kiss your child, and get your butt in the car," Alexis said.

Kat shrugged her shoulders. "Okay then," she said. She kissed Melanie's head.

"We'll get her in her dress," Ari said. "Don't you worry about her."

"She's got bottles in the-"

"Refrigerator," I finished for her with a smile. "I've got this Kat. Go do what you must."

"I love you," she said.

"Well I would sure hope so," I said.

She laughed, and with a wink at me, she was out the door.

"So Zeke," Dan said. "Are you nervous?"

I laughed. "Nah," I said. "It's just a certificate."

"I don't know," Dan said. "I think marrying someone means something."

"Well yeah," I said. "But…. I'm so tied to her already. I feel like we've already been married for a year."

"You sure have acted like it," Dan said with a laugh. "I'm so proud of you Zeke."

"Well thank you Dan," I said. "Actually, thank you all. You all have literally made my life."

"Nah," Justin said. "You were the most exciting thing that happened to us in like ten years. And the pregnancy project kept us occupied."

Everyone laughed. "Good point," I said. "That was a good family project."

"Da da da da," Melanie said, waving her hands.

"That's me," I said. "Even though you don't know it yet."

"Give it a few more months," Corey said. "She'll get there."

I took Melanie and kissed her head. She put her thumb in her mouth and put her head on my shoulder. "She's so adorable," Hannah said.

"We got lucky," I said. "She's so well behaved too."

Hannah laughed. "I hope I have kids like her."

"Everyone hopes for that," I said. "She'll probably be an awful teenager though or something."

"Just don't think about it," Hannah suggested.

"I don't plan on it," I said, bouncing my Melanie.

The hours leading up to the wedding rushed by. I helped Alice with the backyard a little, but about an hour before the wedding I went upstairs to shower and get changed. Dan and I looked pretty spiffy all put together, and when we finished getting ready, we headed downstairs. Guests were just arriving then, and the girls were directing them to the backyard. My sisters and their significant others were introducing themselves to our family, being received well of course.

Nia handed me Melanie who had just been fed and changed, and was in her cute little dress. She giggled when I got her into my arms, and I laughed at her. Someone snapped some pictures of me walking with Melanie, greeting guests as they came in. She was quite content with her pacifier in her mouth and in my arms. When the time came for me to go stand at the end of the aisle with the preacher, I handed Melanie off to Ari. Dan was going to walk Kat down the aisle, and then stand in as my best man as well.

Standing there, all eyes on the back where Alexis was waiting to walk in, all I could think about was how perfect all of this was. How could I possibly ask for anything else? A year ago, I barely even knew Kat, and now we were getting married. She was everything I would ever want. Alexis walked gracefully down the aisle and took her spot on the side opposite me, and then I was looking for Kat.

I smiled immediately when I saw her. Her dress was perfectly white, and fit her just the way a dress should. It showed off the weight she had put on, and I loved every inch of it. The dress didn't matter though. It was the bright smile on her face. She looked just as glorious as I felt, and I wondered how I possibly could have been so lucky to have her. When they got to me, Dan put her hand in mine, and I felt the familiar electricity course through me. I gripped her hand, and she held on tight.

Our vows were simple, and I barely remember what they were because I was so caught up in Kat's eyes. I said, "I do," and then she did too, and I leaned in to seal it with a kiss. Our family erupted into cheers around us, and my heart swelled as I realized how happy I was. Life didn't get much better than this moment.

The reception was short, with Kat and I having our first dance, and Melanie being absolutely angelic the whole time. Everyone was heading home by seven o'clock, and we were cleaned up by eight thirty. "So," I said to Dan as we were getting ready to head over to our new house. "Thank you," I said. "For everything."

"Of course," Dan said, pulling me into a hug. "I love you little man."

"Well I love you," I told him.

"So…" Evelyn said. "Since you guys aren't going on a honeymoon, I'm insisting that we take Melanie at least for the night."

"You don't have to do that," Kat and I said at the same time.

"Oh but we want to," Zoey said. "Seriously, you guys deserve it."

Kat and I looked at each other, and I knew she was thinking the same thing I was: A night to ourselves would be fantastic.

"Thank you," Kat said, turning to them with a smile.

"Of course," Lilah said. "Now go have some fun."

And oh the fun we had.


	14. Chapter 14

**Epilogue: Family**

I made the call around two am. Kat had gone into labor with our second child in the middle of the night, completely taking us by surprise. Alexis was pregnant at the same time as Kat again, but I hadn't heard from them yet. Knowing that Kat's last labor and delivery had gone so quickly, I was a little nervous that Abbey wouldn't make it here in time. After hanging up with an excited sounding Abbey, I immediately called Jenny's number. Being our closest neighbor, she had volunteered to watch our now fifteen-month-old Melanie. We were pretty sure that Kat had gotten pregnant on our wedding night, and knowing how much fun that had been, I didn't doubt it. I squeezed Kat's hand as I climbed out of bed to go grab Melanie. Jenny was up and waiting for her.

"Melanie," I said as I picked her up and she fluttered her little eyelids with a yawn. "Come on," I said. "You're going to go stay with your cousin Grant. Jenny and Liam will take care of you."

"Mommy," she said in her tired little girl voice.

"Mommy's going to have the baby," I told her. She put her head on my shoulder as I grabbed her blanket and put it over the top of her. It was March, but just above freezing temperatures at two am.

I headed out the front door and took off at a jog. Melanie buried her face in my shoulder; this was totally typical for her. Liam opened the door as we got there, and took Melanie into his arms. "Call okay?" he said.

"As soon as possible," I told him.

"Good luck," he said.

"Thanks," I said, already running back to my Kat.

"Hey," Kat said as I came in the front door.

"Hi there," I said. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm alright," Kat said. "Alexis and Brandon are on their way over here. Alexis went into labor too."

"Really?" I said. "Then this'll be great."

Kat laughed. "Probably." I saw the humor leave her eyes as the next contraction came, and I walked to her. I took both of her hands in mine, and let her hold on. She took some deep breaths, shifting from foot to foot.

"Good," I told her. "Just stay calm."

She opened her eyes as the contraction eased and smiled at me. "Do you think it's a boy or girl?" she asked me.

"Boy," I said. "But that's just a gut feeling."

"I think so too though," Kat said. She smiled. "I hope he looks just like you."

"Nah," I said. "No kid needs this ugly face."

Kat chuckled. "You're gorgeous."

Just then, we heard a car pulling up, and out stepped Abbey. She had a bag with her, and had also brought Leah. As she was walking up, Alexis and Brandon pulled up as well. "Oh hi mom," Alexis said as she got out of the car.

"Good morning," Leah said. "Abbey pulled up to the house and told me to get in the car, so here I am."

"Good," Alexis said. "This is going to be a party."

"Yes," Abbey said as she walked into our house. "And I needed someone else to catch the other baby."

"We really should have planned better for this," Kat noted.

"Eh," Abbey said. "I'm a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl."

"Fuck," Alexis said as she walked into the house. "I forgot how much this hurts!"

"It won't be quite as bad as last time," Abbey said. "You're going to be fine."

"Sure I'm going to be fine," Alexis said. "But right now I'm not!"

Kat laughed. "You're great Alexis."

"Thank you," Alexis said with a sigh. "Let's get this done."

"Agreed," Kat said.

"We have to check you first," Abbey said.

"I vote we just sit here until I feel like pushing," Alexis said.

"No," Abbey said. "But thank you for the idea."

"It was worth a shot," Alexis said, and Brandon laughed.

"Who's going first?" Abbey asked.

"Me," Kat said immediately. We made our way to the bedroom, and Alexis and Kat each took a side of the bed. "You know," Kat said as Abbey got gloved up. "I was already dilated to nine centimeters the last time I did this."

"The first time?" Abbey asked.

"Yep," Kat said.

"It's true," I added. "I was there."

"And do you think that's how far you are this time?" Abbey asked, beginning to poke around.

"No," Kat said, taking a deep breath and squeezing my hand. She blew all her air out. "I'm guessing five centimeters."

"Wow," Abbey said. "You were spot on girlfriend."

"Boom!" Kat said. I pulled her back up into a sitting position.

"Way to go," I told her, and she smiled at me. Abbey came back with the same report for Alexis, and the two girls first pumped.

"You should walk," Abbey said.

"We're getting there," Alexis said.

Kat and I talked a little as we made our way around our small house. She worked through her contractions pretty well, but I could tell that she was tired. She held my hands tightly, and I did what I could to comfort her.

As much as this pregnancy had been the same as Melanie's, it was so different. This baby had been created by Kat and I. This baby had my DNA, and my blood flowing through it's veins. No matter how much Melanie was _mine_, this baby was specifically something that had come out of me. It would not exist had it not been for me. I listened to it's heartbeat and knew that I had created that. Melanie was mine, and this baby was mine, but, it was somehow different.

"You know," Kat told me. "I know I already said this, but if it's a boy, I hope he looks just like you. You deserve that Zeke."

I smiled at her and kissed her cheek. "You're the one doing all the work."

"You know what I mean," Kat said. "After everything you've done for me, for Melanie… You didn't have to do any of it."

"You know I did," I told her, shocked that she still saw my relationship with her and Melanie as a favor. "And Melanie is mine just like this baby is."

"Yes," Kat said. "Absolutely. But she isn't your blood. This baby is."

I nodded, thinking about that. "Yes," I said. "But to me Kat, both of them are yours. No matter what else they are, they are a part of you, and I love them because of that. I could never hate something that is yours."

Kat smiled at me and I still felt my heart skip a beat. "I feel the same way you know," she said.

"I know," I told her with an impish grin.

She closed her eyes as another contraction came, and let me pull her into my arms this time. I rocked back and forth with her, making sure she kept breathing consistently.

"Ouch," she said after a few moments. "That was a bad one."

"You ready to be checked again?" Abbey asked. It had been three hours since the last time.

"Heck yeah," Alexis said. "Let's get this baby out!"

"You are entirely too loud for five-thirty in the morning," Abbey said.

"Never!" Alexis yelled.

"This is every day at our house," Brandon said. "She's honestly being pretty quiet tonight."

Kat and I chuckled. After having my hand half-squeezed to death and Kat's face turning very pale, we found out that she was dilated to eight centimeters already. Alexis was as well.

"Wow," Leah said. "That's pretty impressive."

"Thanks," Alexis said. "I totally had complete control over it."

"You know what I meant."

"Sure," Alexis said.

"Almost there," Kat said quietly.

"That's right," I told her.

"I hope Mel is sleeping for them," she added as I pulled her into a sitting position.'

"She probably is," I said.

As I was pulling Kat off the bed, I heard a loud rush of water. "Oh," Kat said, sitting back down. "Holy shit…"

"And that would be your water breaking," Abbey said.

"No really?" Alexis said.

"Fuck you," Abbey told her.

"I could say the same to you- Ow!"

"Okay," Kat said, writhing slowly as she laid back. She moaned. "I feel like I need to push."

"I must concur," Alexis said through gritted teeth.

I grabbed Kat's hand and brushed her hair off her forehead. "Go ahead when you feel it," Abbey said.

Leah was at Alexis's feet, ready to catch her next grandchild, but I couldn't pay attention to that. My eyes were glued on Kat's face.

"Here we go," Kat said, and I pushed her head onto her chest, holding her hand.

"Keep going," I told her. "The baby is almost here, come on Kat, you've got it."

She gasped, and I felt her relax. "Good Kat," Abbey said. "You're already crowning. Push on the next contraction."

I kissed Kat's warm forehead. "That's my girl," I said. "I'm so proud of you Kat."

I barely had time to get the words out of my mouth before Kat was tensed again, bearing down. She groaned, and gritted her teeth together. "Ah…" she said as she relaxed again.

"Pant Kat," Abbey said.

Kat began to pant, and I looked down between her legs. The baby's head was already out, and I felt a rush of excitement. "Good Kat," I said. "You've already got the head out baby," I told her.

"Okay," Abbey said. "Give me your all."

Kat looked up at me, and I saw the tears in her eyes. "I love you," she told me breathlessly, and I could hear the pain in voice.

I smiled. "I love you too," I told her.

I pushed her head forward one more time, and she gave a quiet yell as the baby slipped out of her. I felt her relax for a second, but then I was looking for our baby.

Abbey put the baby on Kat's chest. "A boy," she said.

Kat smiled, and started to cry. Abbey cleared off his airways as I looked at my son.

_My son_.

I felt the tears prickling my eyes. A boy who would bear my last name for the rest of his life. I pictured racecars and skinned knees and baseball and never having food in the house.

"Name?" Abbey asked, and I was snapped back to reality. There was a little girl lying on Alexis's chest, and Kat's hair was still damp from labor.

"Zander," I said.

"Perfect," Abbey said.

"How about you?" Abbey asked Alexis.

"Naomi," she said, and I heard her laugh.

"Those are beautiful names," Leah said, and I saw her grinning.

"Let me wrap him up for you," Abbey said, taking Zander from Kat. I helped her get into a sitting position, and she smiled at me.

"A boy," she said quietly.

I laughed. "We were right."

She smiled at me and Abbey brought Zander back, all wrapped up snug in a blanket with a hat on his little head. "Perfectly healthy," Abbey said.

"Perfect," Kat said, as we both looked down at him.

He was all snuggled up, sound asleep. "Oh Zeke…" Kat said, and I could hear in her voice what I was thinking. "He looks just like you."

"I know," I said.

I put my hand down into his blanket and he grabbed my finger with all his might. "I don't know how I feel about these middle of the night deliveries," Kat said with a laugh, and I laughed with her.

"How do you think Melanie is going to react?" I asked her a moment later.

Kat shrugged. "She's never going to remember a time without him. She'll adjust."

"Good point," I said.

"Here," Kat said, shifting Zander into my arms. "Your turn."

I couldn't believe how little he felt in my arms. His whole body was shorter than the distance from my elbow to my wrist. "Oh my…" I said, and Kat laughed. I leaned down and kissed his little forehead. He did look exactly like me. My mother's nose, round eyes, high-set cheek bones. He was like the most miniature version of me I could imagine.

"It's a little after six-thirty," Abbey said, checking her watch. "Four-and-a-half hours of labor."

"Four-and-a-half hours too many," Alexis said quietly. "But I think she's worth it."

Leah laughed. "She's got your dad's eyes," she told her daughter.

"I know," Alexis said.

Taking a look at Naomi, I saw how much she looked like Alexis. Looking at Leah standing there, I could see how much Alexi looked like Leah. I saw a long line of beautiful girls in that family's future.

"Should we get your older kids over here?" Abbey asked.

"Oh sure," Kat said.

"Kristin has Jace," Brandon said.

"I can get him," Leah said.

"Jenny had Mel," I said. "I can grab her and be back in five minutes."

"Perfect," Leah said.

I kissed Zander again, and gave him back to Kat. I kissed her forehead, and we fist pumped. "Way to go," I told her. "You brought a baby into the world."

Kat laughed. "Thanks man."

"No problem."

On the way to get Melanie, I felt so excited. I couldn't wait to see her, or to see how she would react to Zander. We had been telling her for the last nine months that there was a baby in mommy's tummy, but we weren't sure if she understood. She liked to snuggle with Kat, and she said 'baby' a few times when the baby moved under her, but we weren't sure if she really got it or not.

Jenny was standing in her kitchen as I jogged up, and came to open the door for me. She looked at me expectantly. "A boy," I told her. "Zander."

She smiled, and pulled me into her arms. "And Alexis?" she asked.

"Naomi," I told her. She clapped her hands together. "I'm so excited for you guys!"

Liam came out of Grant's room carrying Melanie then. She looked pretty sleepy, but smiled when she saw me. "Didn't hear a peep from her all night," Liam said. "She and Grant both slept the entire time."

"Oh good," I said, pulling Melanie into my arms.

"Daddy," she said, burying her face in my shoulder.

"Melanie," I said. I kissed her sweet smelling hair. "You want to go meet your baby brother?"

"Baby," she said, not understanding what I was saying at all.

"Exactly," I told her. "Thank you," I told Liam and Jenny. "I'll give you a call later today after we get cleaned up."

"We'll be waiting," Jenny said with a smile.

I ran Melanie back to our house quickly, noting that we had beat Leah back from getting Jace. Melanie popped her head up when I brought her into the house, looking around. "Alright Mel," I said. "We have to be quiet."

"Sh," she said.

"Exactly," I told her. "That's daddy's smart girl."

I brought Melanie into our bedroom them, and Kat smiled. "There's my girl," Kat said.

"Mommy," Melanie said with a smile.

"Come here," Kat said. "Meet your baby brother."

I set Melanie down and she seemed a little hesitant. I reached down to grab her tiny little hand and guided her over to the edge of the bed. Kat held up our sleeping little Zander to show Melanie.

"This is Zander," she told Melanie. "Can you say Zander?"

"An-der," she attempted bravely.

Kat and I laughed. "Good try," I said.

I picked up Melanie and sat her next to Kat. Kat put her arm around Melanie and helped her hold Zander. "Baby," Melanie said again.

"Baby Zander," Kat said. "Good girl."

Just then, Leah walked in carrying Jace. "Jace!" Melanie said immediately.

"Mel-nie!" Jace said, his face lighting up. These two we attached at the hip. They were hilarious together.

"Hello to you too Jace," Alexis said.

"Mommy!" Jace said, smiling just as big. His eyes got wide as he saw Naomi. "Baby…" he said, sounding so much like Melanie.

"Yes," Brandon said, picking him up. "It's your baby sister, Naomi. Can you say that?"

"No," Jace said.

"Mkay," Brandon said. "We'll go back to that."

Kat and I laughed. I think that those were some of the most precious moments I'd ever had with my family. _My _family. _My_ wife and _my_ kids. For those couple hours before our house was flooded by our massive family, it was just bliss. Melanie sat on the bed with us, and I got a few more minutes holding Zander.

At one time, I thought I would spend my whole life wanting to fly, fly away. But right then, in that moment, I knew there was no place I would rather be. There with my family, it was heaven on earth. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could take me away from them. I could guarantee that.

**THE END**


End file.
